


With All My Thoughts (and all my faults)

by ATongueTiedWriter, JPuzzle



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Acquaintances to Friends to Lovers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, F/F, Post-Episode: s02e04 Survivors, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-07 21:18:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 35,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8816557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATongueTiedWriter/pseuds/ATongueTiedWriter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JPuzzle/pseuds/JPuzzle
Summary: Post 2x04: SurvivorsLena and Kara's relationship as it develops after a tentative friendship is formed in the days following the discovery of the Alien Fight Club.





	1. Act I: Part I

**_Nine months ago_ **

_“It’s a bit late for a lecture, don’t you think? Because, clearly, the others got through to me.”_

_Lex looks at her and raises his handcuffed wrists, shaking the shackles with an ironic tilt of his head, and she feels the familiar burn of irritation settle in her gut._

_“Well, you always were a terrible listener.”_

_“And you were never as persuasive as you liked to think you were. Or clever.”_

_Lena stiffens at that, words he once used to tease her when she’d tried to argue with him over science projects and ethics discussions. Even when they were young, Lex couldn’t be argued with; he couldn’t be cajoled or made to see another point of view. He was brilliant, a genius and the world was so frustratingly black and white for him._

_And now, convicted and imprisoned, Lex hasn’t changed; if anything it solidified his position. Lena sees it, sees the coldness of his gaze and feels her willingness to argue the point leave her as she wonders when he had changed so much from the brother that she used to know._

_“I’m not here to lecture you.”_

_He drops his hands, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. Pleasantries gone, Lena recognizes the look on his face._

_“Why are you here?”_

_“I’m leaving Metropolis.”_

_Lex rolls his eyes and scoffs. “Right.”_

_“Luthorcorp is dying. Nobody wants to deal with the business of a madman, even one in custody. The board met during the trial, appointed me acting CEO, and the paperwork just came through to make it final. The company needs a fresh start, away from Metropolis.”_

_The ‘away from you’ is heard as clearly as if it were spoken. Lex regards Lena for a moment before putting his elbows on the table and leaning closer. Across the table, Lena can see angry red lines begin to appear as the handcuffs dig into Lex’s wrists, but Lex ignores it, pushing closer._

_“And you came to say goodbye to the ‘madman’? I’m_ **_touched._ **_"_

_There’s a fire in his eyes, and Lena can feel her spine stiffening in preparation for what’s to come even as she offers a cold smile._

_“Well, we were always told that family is_ **_everything._ **_"_

_“And that applies to you, Little Lena?”_

_There it is. Lena’s nails dig into her palm, fighting a recoil at the name once spoken with the exasperated fondness of an older brother now gnarled into something foreign and vile as he sneers at her._

_“Always just a step behind, always trying to fit into a world she never belonged in.”_

_“I am a_ **_Luthor_ ** _-”_

_“A Luthor. Yes.” He leans forward, expression twisting into the cold, condescending smile and focused eyes that came when a Luthor was out for blood. “And isn’t it ironic that the child who was never wanted would be the one to become their heir?”_

_“They loved me.”_

_“They loved anything that served their purpose. But the fact of the matter is, you were never anything more than a glorified publicity stunt, meant for display. And that is all you will ever be.”_

\----------

_**Present Day** _

_**National City Police Department** _

_3 min_

_WAREHOUSE DISTRICT_

_NCPD’s investigation into an illegal alien fighting ring was closed tonight after information led to the discovery of a fight in progress in the Warehouse District. Working in conjunction with the FBI and Supergirl, NCPD was able to shut down the fight and apprehend several patrons at the scene. Participants received medical attention at the scene and later released without charges. NCPD would like to thank L-Corp’s Lena Luthor for her assistance and full cooperation with the investigation and continues to urge citizens with information to make our city a safer place to please step forward._

Lena reads the post carefully, then a second time to ensure she hadn’t missed anything. The knot of worry that had begun to form when Kara had first come to her office asking for help for a ‘friend’ began to loosen at the news that the ring had been discovered. The post made no mentions of any deaths or serious injuries, but Lena knew that didn’t mean anything.

She pulls out her phone, twirling it indecisively a few times in her hands before unlocking the screen and sending Kara a quick message asking if her friend was alright. She set the phone on her desk and watches until the screen goes dark trying to ignore the knot in her stomach as it begins to tighten again.

She looks at the post again only to have her gaze slide to the picture frame beside her computer. Lex stares back at her, smiling widely and freely as he throws his arms open to the world on top of their home. She smiles back at the picture.

Her graduation party had been more for her parents than any of her accomplishments. She’d suffered through an hour of the party before Lex snuck her back to the house with a bottle of champagne, leading her to the spot on the roof overlooking the entire grounds and spending the rest of the night talking about their plans for the future.

She’d taken the photo when she was half tipsy, he even more so, as he’d spread his arms wide telling her the whole world was theirs for the taking. Lena thinks about how she had laughed, they were Luthors, after all, and wonders if she would have laughed if she had known how far her brother would be willing to take it. Of the lives his obsession would eventually destroy.

She wonders if she would have still been proud to be a Luthor, then.

_“-you were never anything more than a glorified publicity stunt, meant for display. And that is all you will ever be.”_

A knock on the door breaks Lena’s staring contest with her brother. She adjusts the papers on her desk, cheeks warming as if she’s been caught doing something improper, and clears her throat. “Come in.”

Jess slips inside, balancing a stack of folders in her one arm as she navigates a tablet sitting on top of them with her free hand. “NCPD made a post-”

“I know, I already saw.” Lena says.

“Of course you did,” Jess huffs as she continues to scroll on the screen. “Their insults are getting more intelligent; I’ll give them that.”

Lena turns back to her own, skimming through the comments that had begun to pour in.

 **_FedoraJones:_ ** _A Luthor working with a Super? Uh-oh hope nobody tell big brother x’D_

 _|_ **_NichNack:_ ** _Ten bucks says she’s dead in a week._

 **_Mark L James_ ** _: Lex had a plan. A vision for the future. The only thing his sister knows how to do is stand around and look pretty_

 _|_ **_Rich Henderson:_ ** _ALIENS ARN’T AMERICANS! HOW LONG B4 THEY BLOW US ALL 2 HELL!! LEX LUTHOR NEW HOW 2 MAKE THA WORLD SAFE! TRUST MAN NOT SUPERMAN!_

 **_HUMANS4EARTH:_ ** _FUCK LENA LUTHOR SHES A DISGRACE TO HER FAMILY AND THIS COUNTRY! SHE AN SUPERGIRL SHUD B PUT DOWN LIKE THE RABID BITCHES THEY ARE_

Lena shakes her head. “Not really. Most of these are just bastardized quotes from speeches Lex gave a couple years back.”

“You almost sound disappointed.” Jess says.

Lena shrugs. “Is it crazy if I say I missed the days when insults were more creative?”

“Yes,” Jess says bluntly. “You’re the only person I know who complains their death threats aren’t _colorful_ enough.”

Lena hums, not answering as her phone buzzes with a notification from Kara.

 _K. Danvers:_ _Yeah, he’s okay. Grumpy and annoyed, but okay._

Lena feels her worry for the other girl ease, glad everything had worked out well. She moves to put her phone away when another message surprises her.

_K. Danvers: Thank you. I don’t know if he’d be here if it weren’t for your help._

Lena’s eyebrows raise in surprise. She hadn’t done anything, not really, even if the NCPD post wanted to present it otherwise.

_I forwarded an email. You and Supergirl did the rest_

_K. Danvers: She wouldn’t have known where to look, and NCPD wouldn’t have made it in time._

_K. Danvers: It couldn’t have happened without you. Thank you, Lena. Really_

The knot in her stomach twists uncomfortably, and heart beats faster as Lena stares at the message unsure how to reply. She forwarded an email, something she does hundreds of times a day. Why the NCPD was presenting it as something more than that Lena isn’t sure, but she knows she hasn’t done anything that warrants Kara’s gratitude. Not like this, at least. 

Her fingers hesitate over the screen, typing and deleting letters before settling on something she can feel honest about saying.  _I’m glad he’s alright_

“Well, either way, it's good to see you've moved up from 'undeserving, incestuous whore.'”

Lena starts as Jess’s voice cuts through her internal musings, temporarily forgetting the other woman’s presence. She puts her phone down and looks back at her assistant, who gives her an amused look.

“Should I give PR a heads up?” Jess asks.

Lena scrunches her nose in mock concentration, taking a moment to collect herself. “Mhmm, I don’t know. I kinda wanna see how this plays out.”

She smiles as she says it as if debating a kitten video rather than her brother’s devotee’s disturbing comments. Which, as far as Lena is concerned, they may as well have been. If she fretted every time something negative appeared about her online she’d never leave her house. She is, after all, a Luthor.

Jess snorts. “We could. PR’s been quiet lately. You haven’t been ‘attacked’ in, what, a week? They must be getting bored.”

Lena rolls her eyes. “They aren’t _that_ bad.”

“The department is full of high-strung dramatists." Jess deadpans. "I’d say they need to unclench but then how would they keep those sticks up their asses. Hell, legal isn’t even that high strung, and they handled the dealings of a madman for _years-_ ”

Lena freezes from where she had begun to pour herself some water. Jess coughs and straightens the folders under the tablet in her arms. “I’m sorry. That was out of line-”

“Don’t apologize.” Lena pours the water. Small drops get on her desk as her hand begins to tremble, and she tightens her grip willing it to be steady. She sets the pitcher down and looks at her assistant. “Never apologize for telling me the truth. I’d rather have your honest thoughts than false flatteries out of fear.”

Jess’ eyes darken at the word ‘fear,' flickering to the picture of Lex on Lena’s desk before snapping back to Lena. The words hang heavy in the air and not for the first time Lena wonders what impact her brother’s madness had on someone else’s life.

The moment passes quickly as Jess settles into a familiar smirk and cocks an eyebrow. “Well obviously. Who wouldn’t want to know what I’m thinking.”

Lena laughs before she can stop herself. The heaviness fades, and she takes her glass before reclining in her chair. “And so humble.”

“Screw humble, I’m _brilliant_.” Jess scoffs, flipping her hair with a flourish.

Lena shakes her head and says nothing. Jess holds her smirk for a moment longer one before looking down at her tablet and standing straighter. Lena bites back a sigh and straightens up as well. She gestures for Jess to take a seat, taking the first file from the giant pile that is set on her desk.

“What do we have?”

It’s easy, falling into a rhythm with Jess. It’s one they’ve developed over years of meetings and deadlines and working late hours until they were the only ones left in the building because Jess refuses to leave until she knows Lena is prepared for whatever the next day will bring. Jess spends the next hour going over the reports from the day. She points out the flagged documents for signing, the updated budgets Marketing needed her to speak to PR about for the revised yearly forecast, and some schematics for some prototypes sent up from R&D for the Minerva project.

“They said the simulations worked well, but that you’d have to be careful with the placement of the cooling system. Something about overloading a circuit causing an explosion.” Jess explains, showing Lena where R&D highlighted the affected area.

“I’ll make a note of it,” Lena says as she scans the paper with a critical eye. “Is that all for tonight?”

“One last thing.” Jess pulls out a blue binder from the bottom of the pile and slides it to Lena.

Lena takes it and skims the first few pages. “These aren’t our numbers.”

“No.” Jess agrees. 

Lena looks at Jess, an eyebrow raised in question. Jess continues, “In light of tonight, I took the liberty to do some research and pulled together a few reports you’ll want to look at in case this Fight Club situation doesn’t blow over.”

“So you got bored.” Lena translates with a grin. 

“Semantics,” Jess waves her hand. “The point is more than a few people are getting twitchy at the idea of having their Tyler Durden sides being exposed for the entire city to see.”

“Mhm,” Lena thumbs through a few more pages, taking in the raw data. She stops at a familiar logo and looks at her assistant. “How long did it take you to get past Maxwell’s firewall this time?”

Jess scowls and says nothing. Longer than she wanted, then. Lena laughs and shuts the binder.

“I’ll look it over when I get home. Do we need to prepare for a counter hack?”

“No. We’ve had a few amateur attempts at getting in the last half hour or so since the news of our cooperation with Supergirl broke, but nothing on the level with an actual threat or counter-hack. I set up an alert just in case, but we should be fine.”

Lena nods. “And in-house? Have I sent out any bottles of ridiculous whiskey recently, or whatever it is you said the new prize was?”

“One month paid vacation and not recently, no. Some have come close, but the code from the last hack seems to be working well.” Jess says.

Lena looks at Jess, eyebrow raised. “It’s been, what, three months? I would have thought someone in the security team would have found a back door by now.”

Jess shrugs, not looking up from where she’s typing on her tablet. “It took me an hour to find, and I patched it then so I doubt anyone else has found it yet.”

“Really?" Lena asks surprised, "It took you an _hour_ to find?”

“The fix Sam implemented was impressive,” Jess says. 

Lena nods thoughtfully.  The respect in  Jess’s  voice is enough to make Lena curious. “Interesting. Move her to the Minerva project, I want to see what else she can do.”

“Of course,” Jess swipes the tablet one last time before standing. “I’ve uploaded your schedule for tomorrow and pushed back some of your earlier meetings from the morning to early afternoon.”

“Perfect. I’ll look over these reports tonight and send you any changes I make to the agenda’s.” Lena says.

“No,” Jess says plainly. “It can wait until tomorrow. Go home. Shower, eat something, and for god’s sake get more than two hours of sleep.”

Lena looks at Jess, amused. “You realize I am your boss, correct?”

“Job hunting’s a bitch. Someone’s got to make sure you don’t run yourself into the ground.” Jess says easily, and Lena is flooded with the familiar gratitude that Jess agreed to leave Metropolis for National City. She knows it’s selfish, but in a city filled with people who would rather see her burn than succeed Lena is grateful knowing there is at least one person in her corner. 

Her phone clatters on the desk as it buzzes with a new notification. Jess snickers at the way Lena jumps, putting her hands up defensively as Lena glares at her.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just grabbing my stuff.”

Jess makes a show of going over to the couch and grabbing papers from a previous meeting. Lena watches as she begins to put the papers in order before turning back to her phone. The notification showed a new message from Kara. The twisting feeling in her stomach, forgotten in her banter with Jess, returns in full force.

She shakes her head, scolding herself for fretting over nothing, and opens the message.

_K. Danvers: Are you free for lunch tomorrow?_

Lena blinks in surprise. This was new. _Need another interview?_

_K. Danvers: No, nothing work related I swear. I just need a nice non-life threatening conversation with someone normal_

Lena rereads the message and the corners of her mouth twitch in amusement. She doubts there is any universe where she would ever be considered ‘normal.' She turns to Jess, who has almost finished packing her things away for the night.

“Do I have time for lunch tomorrow?”

“You have an hour before your meeting with Jackie from security.”

“Leave it open. I’ll be eating with Kara Danvers tomorrow.”

Jess raises her eyebrows but says nothing as she nods. She takes out her tablet and begins typing out a reminder as Lena replies to the message.

_I can’t promise you ‘normal, ’ but lunch sounds lovely. You can tell me all about how you and your friend got involved in an alien Fight Club_

_K. Danvers: Oooooooor I can introduce you to the best potstickers in town? :D_

It’s a deflection, Lena knows it, but it's tempting. The idea of having lunch with someone who doesn't look at her like she has the blood of Lex’s victims on her hands when her only crime is being guilty of a name-- It’s the kind of normal she never thought she’d have after the trial. She’s not going to let that go.

“Anything else, Ms. Luthor?”

Lena looks at Jess and smiles.

“No, thank you, Jess. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jess nods once before leaving with a soft click of the door. Lena sits at her desk a moment longer before taking her glass and moving to the balcony. The air is cool, slightly damp as the witching hour approached. She stares at the city lights in front of her, at how they reflect on the glass in her hand, and thinks about Kara’s deflection. 

Because it _is_ a deflection. Lena knows it, even if she doesn’t understand why Kara feels the need to, but the thought of having lunch with someone who looks at her without the blood of Lex’s victims on her hands when her only crime is being guilty of a name-- It’s the kind of normal she never thought she’d have after the trial. She’s not going to let that go.

Finishing her water, Lena unlocks her phone to reply: _Deal. I’ll see you at one_

Lena turns back to the skyline and for the first time in a long time looks forward to what the next day will bring.


	2. Act I: Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what was originally going to be a 6K chapter turned into an 8K monster. This is also what we planned as being one of the 'shorter' chapters.
> 
> ....
> 
> Rao help us.
> 
> And Happy New Years

Kara’s not a stranger to hearing about Supergirl at CatCo. With Cat being the one to brand her and CatCo regarded as the number one source for all things Supergirl, it would be stranger for Kara to make it through a day without hearing about her other persona. So stepping off the elevator Kara isn’t surprised to find the newsroom buzzing about the alien fight club taken down the night before.

What does surprise her, as she cracks open the door to the bullpen and tries to slip inside unnoticed, is that Supergirl isn’t the name on everybody’s lips.

“‘-would like to thank L-Corp’s Lena Luthor for her assistance and full cooperation with the investigation.’” Snapper reads from a paper. “Ponytail, you’re late.”

Kara winces from her spot by the door. So much for sneaking in. If she hadn’t known Snapper was human sometimes Kara would swear he was an alien. Or part dog. “Sorry! There was a thing I, yeah,” Kara flounders a bit as she pulls out a large pink bakery box from under her piles of folders, “I got Bob’s!”

Snapper grunts from his spot by the whiteboard but Parker perks up at his desk. “Donuts?”

Addison and Morris, look up from the screen they were sharing at the word while Scope cranes his neck back to see Kara from where he had kicked his feet up on his desk.

Kara fidgets under the immediate attention. Since being reassigned, she’s gotten used to the apathetic and disinterested attitude the others had towards her. Having them look at her now with borderline interest? Fighting Draaga was less intimidating. “Yep! Fresh batch too.”

Parker smiles but hesitates, looking at Snapper. The others look at him too, holding their breath in anticipation. Snapper rolls his eyes at the dramatics. “Fine.”

Chairs scrape against the floor, followed by a yelp as Scope leans too far back and falls out of his, before the others are swarming Kara and the box, nudging each other and slapping hands out of the way to get the ones they want before headed back to their seats. Kara stays standing in the doorway in a daze until Snapper clears his throat.

“If you're all done,” Snapper says, turning back to the board.

Kara moves into the room, looking for a place to sit. Everyone else is back to their desks listening as Snapper pulls out the paper he had been reading from when Kara came in. Kara scans the room for an open chair and realizes there aren’t any.

_Rookies don’t get chairs, Ponytail._

She settles for standing awkwardly by the back wall.

“Now as I was saying before we were interrupted, NCPD released this statement last night when most of us were asleep, probably to avoid the flood of calls they’re getting this morning, so nobody has an angle yet. We’re going to get one first. Ideas, go.”

The others start spouting off ideas, barely letting one finish a thought before another's introduced. Snapper is writing them all on the board, holding up a hand whenever he needs a moment to finish one thought before pointing at the next person to continue. Kara tries to cut in a few times, seeing where an idea could expand or an angle is being overlooked, but she’s either not heard or ignored entirely.

The board is nearly filled when Snapper waves his hand and the others quiet down. He’s quiet as he regards each point, crossing out some while circling others. Eventually, he steps away from the board, gives it one last look with a nod, and turns back to the group.

“Alright. Ford and Lifton are still on vacation, but we can still make this into a full spread. Parker,” Parker straightens up, pen poised to take notes.

“You’re on society. Rumor has it National City’s elite were spectating at these gladiatorial death matches. I want you to dig, see if you can’t verify them and find out who was there. Then go into the implications of high society watching second class citizens fight to the death as a form of modern Roman entertainment.”

“What about Lena Luthor?” Parker asks, flipping through his notes.

“What about her?” Snapper asks.

“NCPD listed her as their source for finding the fight and she’s our very own high society darling," Parker says with a shrug. "High society turning on their own, there could be something there.”

Snapper shakes his head. “No. That’s hard to do without a quote, and their office has been screening calls all morning. It’d be a waste of time. Stick with the Gladiator angle for now.”

Parker nods. Snapper turns to Addison. “Addison, I want you covering the Political angle. How are city hall and the Commissioner’s office handling this in light of the Alien Amnesty Act the President just signed? I want quotes from the Mayor, the District Attorney, anyone you can find. Then work with Parker and see how the political and social consequences overlap. Try to stick under twenty-five hundred, but let me know if you need more.”

Addison jots down notes before pushing her chair over to join Parker. He makes space at his desk and the two bend over their notes, talking quietly. Snapper moves on.

“Morris, use your contacts at the NCPD and find out what you can about their investigation. I want to know when they first heard of this, and how they could have missed something so big for so long." Snapper says tapping on the board. "Scope, you’re on social media. See how people are reacting to the news, what their thoughts are and where they stand.”

“What about the Luthor angle on this?” Scope asks. Kara looks up from her notes and sees him scrolling through Twitter, occasionally pausing to read a specific one. “I’ve been following the story all morning. There’s a lot of emotions about her helping out. They even started a hashtag, #Luthortalked.”

Snapper pauses for a moment, considering it. “Get the pulse on it. Without a quote, we’re limited in how we can spin it, but there may be a way to work it in.”

“Got it.” Scope says, saluting as he turns back to his computer.

“And Danvers,” Kara straightens up as Snapper turns towards her, flipping through his notes. He looks up at her, and there’s a deliberate pause. “Public safety announcement. National City’s Environmental Office have reported a spike in dead pelicans and fish along the beach front. The public needs to know where, so they can avoid it while it’s under investigation.”

“But-” Kara stops herself as the others stop their conversations and turn towards her.

Snapper crosses his arms, cocking an eyebrow at her. “There a problem, Danvers?”

“No, of course not, it’s just-” The others are looking at her again, curiosity from the donuts long gone. “I just thought that maybe I could help with the social media angle. Ms. Grant always had me keeping an eye on-”

“No.”

“Sir?”

“No! This isn't the minor leagues, anymore. You’re not an assistant who gets to be a part of everything or have an opinion on things you know nothing about. Scrolling through Twitter looking for fashion tips while waiting in line to pick up a lunch isn't _journalism._ You don't work for Cat Grant anymore,” Snapper spits the name like it’s acid on his tongue, “and frankly, she should have known better than to promote someone who questions every direction and knows _nothing_ about the job."

The room is silent. Kara stares at a crack in the glass partition over Snapper’s shoulder as he breathes heavily, his face red from exertion. He’s so close to her face and the pen in Kara’s hand snaps as she struggles to keep calm. She keeps her eyes fixed the crack in the glass, studying the patterns.

After a moment, he takes a few steps back. She can see the movement in the corner of her eye. She won’t look away first. Kara won’t give him the satisfaction. Eventually, in the silence, Snapper clears his throat and turns back to the layouts on his desk.

“Three hundred words on the pelicans.” His voice is quieter, wavering from the emotion still there beneath the surface. “First copy on my desk by noon. Understood?”

“Understood, sir.” Kara says stiffly. 

“Good. Then get to work.”

The group breaks apart as each person goes to work on their assignments. Out of the corner of her eye, Kara sees Parker shake his head in sympathy and Morris laughing quietly to himself. Kara stares down at her open notebook, the ink on her hand bleeding through the open pages.

Scuffed brown shoes come into her eye line. Kara looks up and sees Snapper regarding the open box of donuts before selecting one. He takes a bite and grimaces. “Next time go to Leo’s, rookie. Their glazed are better.”

She nods and walks to her office without a word. She shuts the door and stares at the sunflower on her desk, trying to remember what Cat had said about breathing exercises and working past the anger. It doesn’t work. She can still hear Snapper’s voice in her head, feel the spittle that had hit her cheek as he ripped into her in front of everyone.

_Scrolling through Twitter looking for fashion tips while waiting in line to pick up a lunch isn't journalism!_

She takes the stress ball Winn had given her as a joke and squeezes. The rubber groans and then pops, spilling sand onto her palm and over the carpet. So much for stress relief. After five minutes of breathing exercises and counting the granules of sand in her palm, she takes a breath, holds it and then opens her laptop to research the recent spike in fish and pelican deaths.

Forty-five minutes and several Kryptonian curse words later, Kara finally has a semi-passable first draft. She looks over it once making a few minor corrections before her frustrations start to get the best of her. It will come back covered in red corrections and scathing comments, but she’s still so angry that she doesn’t care. She sends it off to Snapper and leans back in her chair, counting ceiling tiles. She closes her eyes and lists the reasons why she wants this job, why she’d be _good_ at this job and the faith that Cat had shown her.

Kara opens her eyes, feeling calmer than she had when she first got to her office and looks at her article once more.

It wasn’t bad. A bit flat in some areas but still a solid draft for less than an hour’s worth of research and writing. Looking at some of her points Kara could see where having visuals would help, but the thought of going to Snapper and asking for a photographer was enough for her to leave finger-shaped dents in the arms of her chair.

She puts her elbows on the desk and clasps her hands together tightly, not wanting to damage any more of her office furniture, when a print on her wall catches her eye. A streak of red and blue flying over Metropolis in the setting sky.

Kara smiles.

_James._

Kara lowers her glasses, scanning to see if James is in his office. He’s sitting at his desk looking over the new spreads for tomorrow’s issue. Perfect.

Kara grabs her bag and hurries out the door, closes the door with a click before marching towards James’ office. She spares a moment to nod in greeting at Miss Tessmacher’s friendly “Hi Kara!” before slipping inside.

“Kara!” James smiles when he sees her, but that fades when he sees the tension in Kara’s shoulders. He stands from his desk and walks over to her. “Is everything okay?”

It’s tempting, ranting to James about how Snapper had reamed her in front of the others. He would take her side, she knew. Call Snapper in and ream _him_ out about his lack of professionalism, for not respecting physical boundaries of his very female employees.

But even as she thinks it, standing there with James looking at her in concern, Kara dismisses the idea. Going to James would do nothing but prove to Snapper that he was right about Kara not being able to handle the job, and she would rather swallow liquid Kryptonite than give him that satisfaction.

“Kara?”

Kara smiles at James. “Everything’s fine. I was just stopping by to ask if I could get your advice later on some graphics for the article Snapper gave me.”

“Oh, sure!” The worry leaves James’ face as he sits back in his chair. “Do you want to look at some now? I have some time before my next meeting.”

“Actually,” Kara checks the time on her watch. She needs to leave soon if she’s going to have a chance to grab food before she meets Lena. “I can’t right now. I’m about to meet Lena for lunch. But after I get back-”

“Wait, Lena? As in Lena Luthor?”

There’s an edge to his voice that makes Kara pause, an edge she’d heard Clark use when whenever he would talk about Lex. It makes her hesitate, confused. “Yes…?”

James sighs and shakes his head. “Kara.”

Kara narrows her eyes and stands up straighter, confusion giving way to irritation. She’s not about to be reprimanded for the second time today when she’s done nothing wrong. “James.”

James must see the irritation in the set of her jaw and the furrow in her brow because his face relaxes, eyes going soft in that way an adult does when explaining something to a child. Kara crosses her arms and waits. “Look, I understand you want to see the best in people, but maybe you should reconsider, just this once.”

“Why?” Kara demands. 

“Kara-”

“No, James, she hasn’t done anything to warrant our suspicion.”

“She’s a Luthor.” James says as if that’s an explanation.

“So?” Kara says, her frustrations mounting. “She helped last night, James. She is the reason more people didn’t get hurt.”

“Good. I’m glad she decided to have a conscience. But that doesn’t mean you should throw caution to the wind and accept a lunch invitation from a _Luthor."_ James sneers at the name. 

“I asked h-”

“You’re having lunch with Lena Luthor?”

Kara and James snap towards the door to James’ office. Snapper stands there a file in hand looking at Kara with a begrudging curiosity. Kara feels her anger from before flare back up but swallows it down. “Yes-”

Snapper gives Kara a bored, condescending look. “And you didn’t think to bring this up in this morning’s briefing because...?”

Kara stares at him. Between being talked over and chewed out when could she have? But Snapper shakes his head, bored of the conversation, and starts flipping through the folders looking for something. “It doesn’t matter. Just get me a quote about what happened last night.”

“It’s not that kind of lunch, sir.” Snapper stops flipping through the files. Kara continues.“It’s personal.”

Snapper snorts. “There’s no such thing as ‘personal’ in this business, Rookie.” Snapper looks up from his folder. “Do you know why every news outlet is publishing virtually the same article?”

“Because they’re going off of the NCPD statement,” Kara says.

“Very good." Snapper says, speaking slowly as if to a child. "And do you know _why_ they’re going off of the NCPD statement?”

Kara frowns. Hadn’t they gone over this in the meeting? “Because...nobody else has any information about what happened?”

“Nobody has any information because no one is _talking_. Not L-Corp, not the cops, not the feds, not Supergirl and none of the participants. No one can get a solid statement regarding the key points of interest. And what are the key points of interest?”  Snapper asks, giving Kara an expectant look.

“The alien fight club.” Kara says.

“An _illegal_ alien fight club, shut down because a _Luthor_ and a _Super_ were working together,"  Snapper explains almost patiently. "We can cover the social aspects, the politics and the police until pigs learn to fly but those two working together, _that’s_ the real story. But it’s only worth something if someone talks.”

Kara says nothing. Snapper turns back to his files, finding the one he was looking for and hands it to James before turning back to her. “You want a better story? Here it is. I want a quote. I want an exclusive with Lena Luthor. Get me that, and this is yours. Otherwise, I expect the finished pelican piece on my desk by midnight.”

“And if she won’t talk?” Kara asks.

Snapper stares at her. Kara stares back, fighting the urge to cross her arms in front of her chest. “You wanted to be a reporter, Danvers. So do your job.”

\-----

The elevator dings and Kara awkwardly juggles the four large takeaway bags in her arms. Aside from Jess’s area and two executive offices that serve as meeting rooms, Lena has the floor to herself. She shifts awkwardly and walks towards Jess’s desk.

Jess keeps typing as Kara reaches the desk. Kara stands there for a moment, not wanting to interrupt the other woman’s work as she waits to be acknowledged. Jess doesn’t look up.

Kara stands there for another moment before clearing her throat awkwardly. “Um.”

The clatter of keys stops and Jess finally looks at Kara. “Yes?”

“Um. Hi! I’m Kara Dan-”

“I know who you are, Ms. Danvers. My short term memory is perfectly intact," Jess says dryly. She looks Kara up and down. "Though I have to say you do look different from the front. You were so quick to rush past me last night I didn’t get a good look.” Jess smiles tightly and Kara gets the distinct impression she would rather be chewing glass. She has to let Kara through, Lena had made that clear the night before, but that didn’t mean Jess had to like it.

Or Kara.

Kara laughs awkwardly as she adjusts the food in her arms. “Right, sorry about that. I do have an appointment today, thou-”

“Yes. She’s expecting you; you can go on through.” Jess says dismissively.

“Thank you.” Kara squeaks.

Jess smiles sardonically before turning back to the numbers on her screen. Kara makes her way to Lena’s office, pausing to readjusts food in her arms before knocking on the door.

“Come in!” Lena calls from inside.

Kara pushes the door open slowly and peeks her head inside. Lena sits at her desk biting on the end of a pen as she focuses her computer monitor. Kara steps fully into the room and shuts the door quietly, not wanting to break Lena’s concentration.

She waits a moment to see if Lena will look up and notice her, only to watch as something on the screen catches Lena’s attention instead. 

Lena’s eyebrows furrow as she takes the pen from her mouth and makes a note in the notebook beside her. “Did you find something, Jess?” 

“Uh, I’m not Jess, but I can grab her if you’d like?” Kara says.

Lena’s head shoots up in surprise, her frown quickly replaced with a broad smile instead when she sees Kara. “Kara! Hi!”

Kara gives an awkward wave, fumbling to catch one one of the bags as it begins to fall. Kara goes to grab it with super speed, Lena doesn’t notice as she moves from her spot behind the desk to help. Kara lets her take some of the bags and gives a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry, I hope I’m not interrupting anything important?”

“Oh god, no, please interrupt me." Lena groans. "I needed a break anyway.”

Kara tilts her head, brow crinkling in concern. “Is everything alright?”

“Just a few reports that refuse to make sense. It’s nothing that can’t wait.” Lena smiles. “Would you like to eat outside? I was going to have us eat in here but the weather's lovely today.”

Kara nods. “That sounds great.”

Lena opens the door and gestures out to the balcony. “After you.”

Kara sidles past her, the take out bags rustling in her arms as she sets them gingerly down onto a small coffee table overlooking the skyline.

“You know," Lena says as she brings out the water pitcher, "When you said you were going to introduce me to the best potstickers in the city I didn’t think you’d bring enough to feed a small army.”

Kara laughs. “Not an army. I’ve been a regular at this place since college, and they always give me way too much.”

They sit in silence, neither one moving to distribute the food just yet. It’s comfortable, and Kara closes her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun against her skin and the tension from the morning ebbs away. After a few minutes, she opens her eyes and sees Lena staring out at the high rises.

“It really is beautiful here," Lena says quietly. "Metropolis is too, but everything is so cramped and pushed together that you only see patches of sky. You lose the sunset.”

Kara hums as she stares up at the sky. “It used to be my favorite time of day. Ms. Grant would still be working at her desk and the view from her office. The buildings around ours are all glass, so when the sunset reflects off of them, everything bathed in this soft orange glow. It reminds me of home.”

“Home?”

“Yeah,” Kara says, getting lost in the images of an orange sky and a red sun. “My foster parents live on the beach. I would watch the sunset from my room, and sometimes when the light hits the water just right, the ocean looked like it was on fire.”

“It sounds amazing,” Lena says.

Kara nods sadly. “It was.”

A flock of birds flies by in a skein. Kara smiles, looking over the top of her glasses to see them clearer when Lena’s voice brings her back to the balcony.

“I wonder what it must look like to her.”

“Her?” Kara asks. 

“Supergirl.”

Kara looks over in mild alarm but Lena’s eyes are still fixed on the birds. “I’d imagine everything looks quite different from up there.”

“Maybe it’s like being in a helicopter?" Kara says, pushing her glasses up the rim of her nose. "But, you know, less noisy.”

Lena laughs and reaches for one of the containers “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”

They take a moment to distribute the food and crack open their disposable chopsticks before settling back into their seats.

“I forgot how nice this could be,” Kara says picking up a potsticker.

“Having lunch outside?” Lena asks.

Kara nods. “That and having time to sit down and eat it. Before I would just grab bites where I could in between errands for Ms. Grant.”

“I understand.” Lena says, “I can’t remember the last time I had a lunch without it being work related. I’m either going over paperwork or grabbing something between meetings. That's actually part of why I put the balcony in during the building renovations. If I’m going to be stuck inside all day, I may as well get fresh air where I can, right?”

Lena smiles and Kara squirms, guilt settling in the pit of her stomach. “Actually, about that...”

Kara puts her food down, readjusting her glasses to keep her hands from fidgeting in her lap, and turns to face Lena entirely. Lena sets her food down, the furrow reappearing between her eyebrows as she regards Kara in concern. “Kara? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” It sounds hollow even to Kara’s ears. She lets out a long sigh and sits back in her chair, facing back towards the sun. She’s quiet for a moment as she sorts out her thoughts before turning her head toward Lena. Lena is sitting on the edge of her chair facing Kara fully, looking at her with such a genuine concern Kara can’t help but smile. “Really, I’m okay. I just had a bit of a rough morning at work, that’s all.”

“What happened?” Lena asks, her brow pinched in concern. 

Kara shakes her head and clenches her fists for a second, feeling the frustration bubble up. “It doesn’t matter. But when my boss heard I was having lunch with you, he told me to get a quote about what happened last night at the docks and, well...”

“You couldn’t exactly say no.” Lena finishes. 

“Yeah,” Kara says, avoiding Lena’s gaze. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t want this to be a working lunch. You have no idea how much I was looking forward to it-”

“Kara.” Lena takes one of Kara’s hands gently causing her to look up at the other woman.

“It’s alright, I understand. These things happen sometimes. It’s part of what we do. And besides,” Lena smiles at her. “If you feel that badly about it, you can make it up to me another time.”

Kara relaxes back into her seat, squeezing Lena’s hand gently. “I’d like that.”

“Then it’s settled. Now,” Lena squeezes Kara’s hand back gently before pulling her hand back and picking up one of the containers. “About that quote.”

\-----

Kara frowns at her laptop and highlights a sentence, writing over the top of it with as much force as she dares use on the keyboard. Snapper was meticulous in his edits on the pelican story, sending it back with a note to make the changes by the morning or it would be assigned to Scope.

The building was quiet, save for the few others who were working as late as Kara. It wasn’t the first time she had been in the building after the other employees had gone home for the night, but it was the first time Cat wasn’t there telling her what to do with her time or how to do her work. In some ways, it was liberating, but mostly Kara was left wishing for a sense of normalcy.

“Shouldn’t you be at home?”

Kara looks up from her screen. James stands in the doorway, bag slung over his shoulder ready to go.

“Hey." Kara says with a polite smile. "No, I can’t leave yet. I need to finish rewriting this article. Snapper wants it on his desk first thing in the morning.”

James nods. “I read the draft you sent me earlier. It showed a lot of promise.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

An awkward air hangs about as they stare at each other not knowing what to say. Kara’s palms prickle, and she rubs them together hoping it will make it stop. James rubs the back of his head, opening his mouth as if to say something before changing his mind. Suddenly, Kara’s phone buzzes loudly on her desk, causing them both to jump. They look at each other for a moment before laughing, the awkward tension broken. James plays anxiously with the strap of his bag before taking a hesitant step inside the room.

“Listen, Kara,” James plays anxiously with the strap on his bag before taking a hesitant step inside the room. “I was out of line earlier, with the whole Lena-Lunch thing.”

Kara shakes her head resisting the urge to sigh. “Really, James you don’t have to-”

“No, no, I do. After what happened with Lex and Clark, I hear the name Luthor and I just...I don’t think clearly anymore, you know? There’s just too much history there, and none of it’s good. But,” James stops playing with his bag and looks at Kara, sincerity in his eyes. “You don’t have that. And I’m sorry for trying to push it on you when all you ever do is try to see the best in people.”

Kara takes a breath and holds out her hand as a gesture of peace. “Thank you, James. I’m sorry too, for snapping at you like I did. I was under a lot of stress, and I took it out on you when you were just trying to look out for me.”

James waves his hand. “Hey, don’t even worry about it. It’s forgotten.”

They smile at each other, happy to have cleared the air. Kara’s phone buzzes loudly on the desk again, teetering towards the edge so that Kara has to grab it before it falls.

“Someone’s popular.” James teases.

“It’s probably Alex," Kara says as she straightens back up. "I'm supposed to meet her later for drinks and pool at this new bar she found.

“Ah, then I won’t keep you," James says stepping back. "Tell your sister I say hi, okay?”

“I will. Good night, James.”

He waves goodbye as Kara reaches for her phone. Several message notifications greet her,

mostly from Alex but one from Lena catches her attention. She unlocks her phone and scans through the messages from Alex reminding her about their plans tonight, the most recent one asking if she had left work yet. Kara fires off a quick message letting Alex know she would be leaving soon before opening Lena’s message.

_L. Luthor: I’m convinced. Best potstickers in the entire city. The entire STATE_

Attached is a picture of their lunch from earlier, now accompanied by a pile of paperwork and a half drunk glass of wine to the side.

Kara grins as she types out her reply, glad the CEO is having a good dinner while she works

_I told you!_

Another message comes through as she’s looking at the picture and Kara scrolls down.

_L. Luthor: I just don’t understand, how are they still so good cold!?_

_Magic :D_

_L. Luthor: I will never doubt you again_

_No take backs, I have it in writing_ _:)_

_L. Luthor: I wouldn’t dream of it_

_L. Luthor: :)_

Kara smiles goofily at her phone, feeling lighter than she has all day. She goes to ask how the paperwork is going, not ready for the conversation to end when her phone buzzes with another message from Alex asking if she’s on her way. Kara groans, using her super speed to make the last edits to the article before sending it to Snapper.

She gathers the last of her belongings and turns off the lights. She makes her way towards the elevator and unlocks her phone to let Alex know that she’s on her way. Lena’s smiley face greets her, smiling up at her from the screen. Kara pauses. She looks at the elevator, then the door to the stairwell. She smiles as she types out a message letting Alex know she’s on her way before pushing into the stairs and taking off her glasses.

\-----

“Wher’d ee ay ee got dis from?” Jess sits on the other side of the desk, feet propped up as she examines one of the take out boxes looking for a label.

Lena shrugs. “The ‘best place in town’ apparently. She didn’t say where.”

“An’ ou didn as’?” Jess demands.

“I didn’t think to.” Lena says. 

Jess snorts and swallows the rest of the potsticker. “Yeah, I’ll bet.”

Lena looks at Jess confused. “What is that suppose to mean?”

“Nothing, nothing, don’t get your power suit in a twist,” Jess says holding her hands up in surrender.

Lena arches an eyebrow at the shorter woman. “I’m in a dress.”

“Mhmm. Pass me the R&D report?” Jess says changing the subject. 

Lena rolls her eyes at the deflection but complies nonetheless. Jess takes the page with a grunt and begins comparing it to one in her other hand. “Is this the update from the chemical test you conducted a month ago?”

“It is,” Lena says pulling up the report on her computer. “They’ve managed to get the compounds to stabilize, but now there’s a problem with the reactions.”

They continue analyzing the reports for a while, comparing notes and figures on any problems with possible solutions. They’ve moved onto Marketing reports when Jess’ tablet beeps. Lena watches Jess continue to examine the report in front of her, not even reaching for the device. She raises an eyebrow in surprise. “You’re not going to check that?”

“Nope.” Jess says, eyes never leaving the report. “This is much more interesting than whatever idiocracy some internet troll decided to spew this time.”

“I thought you turned notification comments off.” Lena says. 

“I did. But the Google Alert I have on your name still flags the blog articles they write. Which, let me tell you, are absolutely _riveting."_ Jess deadpans. 

Lena fights back a smile. “Is that so?”

“Oh totally," Jess nods seriously. "It makes drinking bleach so much more fun.”

Lena laughs and Jess cracks a smile. The tablet beeps again, and Jess rolls her eyes. She takes the tablet and tosses it on the couch on the other side of the room.

Lena rolls her eyes. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.”

“You know how this goes. They find a bone and don’t let go until they’ve choked on its splinters. Only this bone comes attached to a flashy red skirt and a set of boobs, so they're acting twice as disgusting as normal.” Jess shakes her head and sighs. “I just really hate that those idiots shoved you into this spotlight. As if you don’t have enough to deal with on a regular basis.”

“I’m a Luthor, Jess,” Lena says. “Being a glorified publicity stunt is my ‘regular basis.'”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not bullshit.” Jess grumbles under her breath and Lena feels a tug of affection for the younger woman.

Another beep sounds from Jess’s tablet before she car reply, though, and with a loud groan, Jess stomps over to grab it from the couch. She comes back to the desk, opening the notification with an aggressive swipe as Lena goes back to reading the Marketing report. It’s not until she reaches for the next page by Jess’ elbow that Lena sees her frowning at the readout on the screen.

“What is it?” Lena asks.

“Hmm?” Jess doesn’t look up from her tablet but turns her head towards Lena to show she’s listening.

Lena puts down her report and faces Jess completely. “Is everything alright?" 

Jess taps a few things out on the tablet. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just a few irregularities with the network."

“Irregularities?”

“A few things aren’t matching up the way I expected them to, that’s all.” Jess explains, continuing to tap on the screen. 

“What’s been affected?” Lena asks.

“So far it looks like,” Jess swipes to another page on her tablet, “the exchange server, R&D’s test environment, and a file server used by Marketing.”

Lena frowns. “Should we be worried?”

“Nah,”  Jess says shaking her head.  “It’s probably just a something the server team didn’t pick up when they implemented the last system update. Staff are complaining about general slowness over the network. It’ll probably be an easy fix. I’ll work with the server team tomorrow morning to see what we can find.”

Lena nods slowly, concerns easing. .  “Make sure you get approval from change before you start tinkering.” She says as she picks her report back up . Jess groans but Lena shakes her head. “I don’t want to deal with another call from Dan just because you thought they weren’t working fast enough.

“It’s not my fault they implemented it incorrectly!”  Jess exclaims, throwing her hands up. “I had to fix it when they were done.”

“Jess.”

Jess continues. “Hell, he’s probably the reason the network is acting so slow. He probably approved something he shouldn’t have.”

“Jess!”

Jess lets out a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. I’ll go to Dan so he doesn’t get his ‘witttle feewings’ hurt.”

Lena laughs. “That’s all I ask.”

When Jess doesn’t respond Lena looks up, her smile slipping into a frown as Jess stands rigidly in front of her.

“Ma’am.”

Jess is looking past Lena out onto the balcony. Lena turns in her chair and fights the instinct to go rigid as well as Supergirl hovers over Lena’s balcony. She nods her head at Lena, arms resting at her side in a non-threatening manner as her cape moves in the breeze behind her. She waves to the women in the office before looking at the door then back at Lena. When she doesn’t move any closer Lena realizes that she’s waiting for an invitation inside.

“Shall I get the pigeon repellent, Ms. Luthor?” Jess asks stiffly. 

Lena fights back a smile as Supergirl head jerks back, eyes narrowing at Jess for the suggestion. It’s useless when she turns back to Jess and finds her giving the blonde hero a defiant look of her own, well aware that she was overheard.

Lena rests a hand on Jess’ arm. “It’s fine, Jess. Why don’t you go call Cal’s and call in our usual?”

A code they hadn’t needed since before Lex’s trial when they could never be sure who was on their side. Jess could leave, and Lena would be alright. Lena could handle this. Everything was alright.

Still, it doesn’t stop Jess from looking at Lena, searching her face for any sign of unease before Jess finally relented with a nod. She gathers her tablet and, with one last glare at Supergirl, exits the room.

Lena waits until she hears the door click shut. “You can come in now, Supergirl.” Lena doesn’t bother raising her voice. She would be heard even if had she whispered.

She turns back towards her balcony and stands as Supergirl pulls the balcony doors open gently. “I’m not sure your assistant likes me very much.”

“I wouldn’t take it too personally," Lena says as she stands. "Jess doesn’t like anyone”

Supergirl starts to nod but stops, squinting at the wall that leads to the waiting area. Lena follows her gaze, confused at what the hero was looking at until-

“She’s watching on the security cameras!”

“Or trust anyone.” Lena shakes her head but smiles as she says it. She turns back to Supergirl. “Jess doesn’t like having her schedule ignored. I’ll let her know to make an exception for you.”

Supergirl’s lips twitch as if Lena's made a joke she isn't aware of and she nods. “Thank you, Ms. Luthor. Please tell her that I am sorry for dropping by unannounced, though. I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.”

“It’s nothing that can’t wait. We were due for a break anyway.” Lena says. She makes her way over to the small refrigerator in the corner and pulls out the water pitcher before turning back to Supergirl, who was still in the doorway of the balcony. “Would you like some water?”

“No, thank you.” Supergirl says.

Lena pours her own.  “I didn’t know the Girl of Steel made courtesy calls.”  Taking her glass she walks past the hero to the balcony. Looking over her shoulder she smirks. “Or am I just special?”

Supergirl follows Lena out, hands clasped behind her back.  “I wanted to thank you for last night.”

“Last night?”  Lena asks confused. 

Supergirl nods assuredly.  “Kara Danvers told me you were the one who gave her the location of the fight.”

Not this again.  “I forwarded an email--”

“You gave me a place to look.” Lena goes to object, but the sincerity in Supergirl’s eyes make the words stick in her throat. “You stopped me from needing to search an entire city when innocent lives were on the line, innocent lives that _you_ helped save."  Supergirl smiles softly at Lena. "Seems like a lot more than just forwarding an email to me.”

Lena is taken back. She hadn’t known how to react to Kara’s gratitude last night, accepting it only because she was glad Kara’s friend was okay and because Lena was a _Luthor,_ raised to accept compliments even if she didn’t believe them entirely. But now? With National City’s beloved hero praising her for something she could have trained a monkey to do? Lena feels like a fraud.

“I’m happy to have helped.” Lena says with a fake smile. Supergirl looks at Lena in concern, and for a moment Lena wonders if she can hear how hard her heart is pounding. “I know my brother’s actions make it hard to believe, but not every Luthor wants to see the world burn. Well,” Lena raises her glass “at least one doesn’t.”

Supergirl frowns. “Your name does not define you, Ms. Luthor.”

“It does.” Lena says easily. “As much as that symbol on your chest defines you. Names like ours carry weight because they mean something to someone outside of ourselves. It just so happens ours are the extremes for what it is to be good in this world-”

Lena’s eyes go to Lex’s picture on her desk. “-and what is not.”

Supergirl says nothing. Lena looks back over the city, thinking about the conversation she had with Kara just a few hours prior. Sunset may be Kara’s favorite time, but nighttime will always be Lena’s. This high up with the entire city before her, it’s the closest she would ever get to touching the stars when her feet can never leave the ground.

The closest she would ever come to flying.

“You’re right. Our names are bigger than we are. They matter in ways that we will probably never completely understand.” Supergirl says softly, softer than Lena has ever heard the blonde hero speak before. When she looks up Supergirl is looking out at the city with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

“But,” Supergirl continues slowly, turning to look at Lena as she weighs her next words, “I also believe our names are given their weight by the actions of the people behind them. And if anyone can make the name ‘Luthor’ mean something good again, it’s you.”

Lena doesn’t know what to say. She’s been repeating the same thing in her head for months  with a desperate hope that she can make the Luthor name mean something good again. But coming from Supergirl, somehow it’s different.

It means more.

Lena opens her mouth but the words still won’t come. Supergirl watches Lena with a gentle, knowing smile. She rises as she begins to float above the balcony.  “Have a good night, Ms Luthor.”

Supergirl flies away. and Lena is left standing on her balcony with only her thoughts to keep her company. She doesn’t know how much time has passed until  a quiet knock on her balcony door brings Lena out of her reverie.

“Ms. Luthor?” Jess' voice floats out. 

“Coming, Jess.”  Lena says, turning to the door. Jess nods and makes her way back to the table with their drinks. Lena looks back to the city lights. The flutter of a red cape no longer visible  but that doesn’t let that stop her . “Good night, Supergirl.”

Lena goes back inside, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

\-----

“You’re late.”

Kara ducks her head as slides next to Alex at the bar, pushing her glasses firmly in place. Alex hands her a drink and Kara accepts it gratefully, taking a long sip as Alex leads her back to their table by the pool tables where Maggie is racking the balls.

“Where were you?” Alex hands her a drink and Kara accepts it gratefully, taking a long sip as Alex leads her back to their table by the pool tables where Maggie is racking the balls.

“I had a thing.”  Kara says, hopping up on her stool.

Alex gives her an unimpressed look.  “A thing?”

“A thing.” Kara says firmly. “Aren’t you suppose to be playing pool?”

“Maggie can wait.”  Alex says, not ready to let this go.

“Maggie is ready to kick your ass.” Maggie proclaims loudly, as she finishes racking the table. She takes off the triangle and steps back looking proud. “Told you I could rack the balls, Danvers.” 

Alex squints at the table. “The corners are wrong.”

Maggie frowns.  “What do you mean the corners are-”

“It’s solid-stripes-solid-stripes. The solids go in the corners.”  Alex gestures with her hands, pointing at the proper placement. 

Maggie gives her a suspicious look.  “You’re making that up.”

“I’m not, ” Alex says confidently. “But I can come over and show you if you’d like-”

Maggie waves her off, grumbling as she puts the triangle back over the balls. Alex shakes her head and turns to Kara with a smirk. “She’s already lost twenty bucks tonight.” 

“Maybe you should go easy on her for a while.”

Alex scoffs.  “Where’s the fun in that? And we’re still talking about you-”

“Well, the fun is that maybe you’d actually  _ keep _ this friend…”  Kara says, voice trailing off as it has the desired effect. 

“Kara!” Alex smacks Kara upside the head. Kara laughs, ducking Alex’s arm as she moves to put her in a headlock.

“Danvers! ” Maggie’s voice interrupts their roughhousing. Kara glances over and sees Maggie giving them an amused look as she leans against the table. “Are you playing or not? Double or nothing.”

“I didn't think you were a masochist, Sawyer,”  Alex says shrugging off Kara’s arm. 

“ We’re talking pool, Danvers, not kinks.” Maggie says with a wink. Alex’s pulse jumps and Kara cocks her head, glancing between the two as Maggie continues. “So  you gonna sit there wrestling with blondie all day or are you gonna come and lose to me?”

“Blondie has a name, Sawyer.” Alex snarks back. “Come and meet her and  _ then _ I’ll kick your ass.” 

Maggie saunters over to the table with a cocky grin. Alex rolls her eyes in annoyance, her heart picking up again seemingly without her notice. Kara bites back a smile. Well this was interesting.

“Maggie, this is Kara--” 

“Oh, the sister!” Maggie exclaims, cockiness falling away to a more genuine smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Kara, this is Maggie Sawyer.” Alex continues unfazed at the interruption. “She’s a detective in the NCPD. She’s consulting with us on a case.”

“Oh!”  Kara feigns surprised recognition. “I’ve heard a lot about you too!”

“Really, now?” The cocky grin is back in place as Maggie raises an eyebrow at Alex. Alex rolls her eyes at her, kicking the back of Kara’s stool. 

“Yeah,” Kara says, looking at her sister in confusion. “Something about always kicking your ass?”

The cockiness falls as Maggie scoffs.  “Please. She just got lucky.”

Kara raises the beer to her lips and takes a sip as Alex snorts. “If I did then this is the luckiest I’ve been in years, Sawyer.”

Kara chokes and fumbles with the bottle, knocking it over onto the table. “Oh god, Alex, ew!”

Maggie bursts into raucous laughter and Alex is left sputtering at the pool table. “That’s not what I-”

“Nope, nuh-uh," Kara says quickly shaking her head. "I don’t want to hear it! Go play before I need to hire a therapist.”

Alex stomps her foot, causing Maggie to laugh harder.  “Damnit, Kara. That’s _not_ what I meant.”

Maggie slings an arm around Kara’s shoulder, still bubbling with laughter. “I like you, Little Danvers. Keep this up and I might actually win a round.”

Kara laughs. “Yeah, good luck with that. I remember one time when I was fifteen there was this guy who had a huge crush on Alex and-”

“So Kara, how was Snapper today?” Alex says loudly, passing another drink firmly into Kara’s hands before going to break. Maggie keeps laughing into her drink, sending Kara a wink over her glass before turning her attention back to the game as Alex sinks two balls.

Kara smiles back and takes a small sip. She shrugs and picks at the label on her bottle. “Fine.”

Alex misses her next shot and looks at her sister in concern. “What happened?”

“What’s a ‘Snapper’?” Maggie asks as she looks for a shot.

“Kara’s a reporter for CatCo.” Alex explains not taking her eyes off of her sister. “And her boss is an absolute prick.”

“Ouch, that sucks.” Maggie misses her shot and swears. “Your shot, Danvers.”

Alex doesn’t move, still looking at Kara. Kara stares studiously at the bottle, avoiding Alex’s gaze. “Kara. What happened?”

Kara sighs. She takes another pull from her beer before telling them what had happened with Snapper in the bullpen, and then later in James’ office. Maggie and Alex listen quietly; Maggie patiently waits for Kara to finish while Alex seethes quietly. When Kara’s finished, she plays with the empty bottle for a moment before gesturing towards the pool table. “It’s your shot, Alex.”

“Oh I’m shooting something alright,”  Alex says darkly. Her grip tightens on the pool cue. Kara can see the whites of her knuckles. 

“Alex-”

“Gonna have to go with Little Danvers here,” Maggie says. “Murder’s still illegal-”

“He wouldn’t die,”  Alex grumbles.

“-as is maiming,”  Maggie says pointedly even as her lip twitches in amusement. “Even if the prick does deserve it.”

Maggie pushes Alex gently towards the table, who goes begrudgingly, muttering darkly under her breath the entire time, before taking her spot next to Kara. They watch Alex line up her next shot and miss.

“Go again, Danvers, pretty sure Petey over there bumped you.” A large blue alien flips Maggie off. Alex waves away the offer and goes back to join her sister. Maggie shrugs and hops off her stool.  "Sucks that that happened though. I think I saw something you wrote, the thing on Luthor’s alien detection thing?”

“Yep, that was me.”

“It was really well done.” Maggie misses her shot and groans. She shuffles over to where Kara is to watch Alex. “Didn’t make me want to buy the thing but I didn’t think she was just following the company line of Luthors hating Supers.”

“That’s actually the angle my boss wants to take with this new article.”

“New article?”  Alex asks sinking a ball. “He reams you out in front of everyone and gives you  _ another _ article? What, is he setting you up for another beating?”

“Your sister’s talented. The guy’s an asshole but he’s got to have some brains right?”  Maggie says.

“Theoretically,” Alex grumbles, lining up her next shot. “What’s the article on?”

“The alien fight club from last night.”  Kara answers. “CatCo is dedicating a full issue to it.”

“Is that why you interviewed her today?” Alex asks as she sinks her shot. 

“Yeah. Apparently, a Luthor helping a Super stop an ‘ _ illegal alien fight ring _ ’” Kara does a bad interpretation of Snapper, “is something that could sell well.”

“It will,” Maggie says. “There’s a lot of bad blood there and not a lot of middle ground. People are on one side or the other, and have little room for tolerance of anyone who thinks differently. An article like that would draw both sides if for no other reason for the chance to see the other side dragged in the mud.”

Alex sinks yet another ball and Maggie grimaces - she’s going to lose the game and she knows it. She continues, “Add in the fact that you have the Luthor everyone is counting on to fail basically defying expectations and  _ helping _ aliens, you may as well have dollar signs fluttering around you like little cartoon birds.”

“Your department thanked her in the Facebook post, though,” Kara says with a frown. “That’s the whole reason my article even exists.”

Maggie glowers  as Alex finally misses and she goes to the table to line up her next shot. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

Kara blinks.  “Why not?”

“Because it’s dangerous.” Maggie hit the cue ball with too much force, sending it flying off the table. She sighs. “Okay, so you were the one who got the address from Lena Luthor, right? You gave it to Supergirl and your sister, told us where to go?” 

“Yeah…” Kara exchanging looks with Alex.

“So why weren’t you mentioned? Why weren’t you thanked?”  Maggie asks.  “You helped just as much as she did, took just as big a risk going to the authorities. You weren’t called out specifically.”

“Nobody knows who she is, Maggie.” Alex puts the cue ball back on the table with a thud. “What would that have done?”

“Exactly,” Maggie turns to Alex. “Nobody knows who she is. But  _ everybody _ knows who Lena Luthor is.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.”  Alex dismisses.

Maggie scoffs and crosses her arms.  “Oh come on,  _ Special Agent  _ Danvers, there’s a  _ reason _ informants are kept confidential.” 

“I know that--”

“Why?” Kara asks. The other two women start as if they had forgotten she was there. “Why does it matter if this was confidential?”

Alex fidgets with her pool cue and Maggie sighs. “Have you ever heard the term ‘snitches get stitches’?”

Kara’s stomach flips uneasily as she looks first at her sister and then at the detective. A knot lodges itself in Kara’s stomach as she looks at the other two women.   “But she only gave me an address…”

“We know that,” Maggie says. “And Supergirl knows that. But the rest of the world? All they see is that she cooperated with the police, and a Super, to save a bunch of aliens.”

Kara begins to feel nauseous, the knot in her stomach expanding and anchoring itself to her lungs as the implications of what it meant for Lena to help them, help Kara, begins to sink in.

Maggie gives her a sympathetic look.  “Look, I know it’s your job. And to a point your sister’s right. She’s a Luthor. She already had a target on her back. I mean, for Christ’s sake, her own brother tried to kill her, what, two weeks ago? But this? An NCPD post thanking her for her help followed by an article on how she did it? This is going to put her on a  _ lot _ more high powered shit lists.” Maggie moves around the table to line up her next shot. “But drama sells papers so I get why your boss wants to do it.” 

Kara is quiet, thinking about what Maggie had said when Maggie begins to laugh.  “Well, drama and sex but I doubt she’s going to be getting into bed with a Super anytime soon."

Alex chokes as she takes a drink, coughing and wheezing as she tries to take in a breath. Neither of them notices the shards of glass at Kara’s feet or the remnants of the bottleneck clutched in her hands. 

Maggie grins “Next time, don’t try and swallow the whole bottle, Danvers. I want you alive when you lose.”

Alex scowls and waves Maggie away and Kara goes to buy another beer.


	3. Act I: Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This looks like it's going to be the average length (god help us) and time between chapters, for those of you curious about a consistent 'update schedule.'
> 
> That being said, we hope you enjoy the chapter and advise everyone to take a breath before we plunge you slowly off a cliff.

Early morning Noonan’s is quiet, still. Before the morning coffee rush, before the city comes to life with shuffling steps and murmured drink orders. It’s a calm that lingers in the air, the kind that comes in those places where time seems suspended and nothing can go wrong.

Kara sits by a window towards the back of the cafe, swirling a teaspoon absentmindedly in her coffee cup, the metal clinking gently against the China. Falling asleep the night before hadn’t been easy, nearly impossible. When it had come, she would wake in a cold sweat from dreams that would slip away as soon as she opened her eyes. Dreams that leave her in a cold sweat and muddled thoughts, a name lingering on the edge of her tongue.

She lets out a heavy sigh and sets the teaspoon down. Cradling the cup in her hands she looks out the window, lifting her eyes up to watch the sky transition from muted blues to soft purples as the soft hiss of coffee machines and the silent companionship of strangers fills the air around her.

Early morning Noonan’s is a peaceful place. A safe place.

Kara’s place.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

Kara starts, head snapping to the side at the sudden interruption to her thoughts. Maggie stands next to the table, wearing a leather jacket and the telltale signs of a hangover.

“Maggie!”

“Little Danvers,” Maggie smiles tiredly. She gestures at the empty chair across from Kara. “Do you mind?”

“No, please! Go ahead!” Kara moves her bag from the seat beside her and sets it on the ground, gesturing for Maggie to sit. “What are you doing here?”

“My Captain needed an extra pair of hands for an early patrol, and I needed caffeine if I’m going to make it through without turning drooly and brain hungry.” Maggie holds up her coffee.

“Oh.” Kara says, blinking. “Alex didn’t mention you were working this morning. We could have gone home sooner.”

They’d left the bar sometime after midnight, Alex and Maggie were both a ways past tipsy, bickering over pool and other games they could play that Maggie maybe had a chance in.

“She didn’t know. Hell, I didn’t even know until I got the call.” Maggie shrugs and takes a sip of her coffee. “It’s fine, though. Probably better I was the one who got called in now anyway.”

“Why’s that?” Kara asked, confused.

“Because I’d rather get a call for an early patrol than get one later for something that could have been prevented.”

It would be easy to let the conversation fall into something else, something less heavy for not quite seven in the morning and only five hours of sleep, but there’s a nagging feeling in the back of Kara’s mind that won’t go away.

“No, I mean, why is it better that you’re the one who got the called in? Why not one of the other officers?”

Maggie hesitates, her brows furrowing as she spins the near empty coffee cup in her hands as if trying to work out what to say. It’s the same look she had the night before when they were talking about Lena, and it’s enough to make Kara sit up a bit straighter. Maggie opens her mouth to say something but the waitress chooses that moment to arrive. She sets two plates of sticky buns in front of Kara and Maggie uses the distraction to pull out her card and ask for one as well.

“And fresh coffee for me and my friend, please.”

“Oh you don’t have to do that-”

“Kara. You’ve probably had just as much sleep as I have so trust me when I say you’re going to want caffeine for this conversation.”

Kara had put Maggie in a cab and had flown Alex back to her apartment. Alex had flopped immediately to bed, awake long enough to lift her legs for Kara to remove her shoes before passing out completely dressed on top of the covers. Kara had covered her with the blanket from the couch and left a bottle of water, aspirin and a post-it note with a smiley face by the bedside before heading home herself, pausing long enough to watch Maggie stumble safely into her apartment and collapse into her own bed.

That had been five hours ago.

When Kara doesn’t offer anymore protests Maggie nods to the waitress with a smile. The waitress disappears, and Maggie sits back in her chair, saying nothing as she regards Kara with a thoughtful look. Kara fidgets with her sleeves for a moment before scooting one of the sticky buns closer. She reaches for her fork-

“What are your thoughts on aliens?”

-and sends it flying across the table. Maggie ducks, swearing as it flies past her head and lands somewhere on the other side of the room. 

“Sorry! I’m so sorry it just-it slipped.” Kara finishes lamely, her hands dropping in her lap. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just wasn’t expecting any flying metal so early.” Maggie quirks a smile and sits back up as the waitress arrives with fresh drinks and Maggie’s food. She distributes everything and slides Kara a new fork with a small pat on her shoulder, causing Kara’s cheeks to heat up as Maggie laughs.

“So!” Kara says, holding the new fork gently in her hand. “Um, aliens? Why-why do you want to know what I think about aliens?”

“Well, for one, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone react as calmly as you did to being in a bar surrounded by ‘otherworldly’ beings.”

Kara squirms in her seat and laughs uncomfortably.

“Alex gave me a heads up when she invited me. I think she, ah, wanted me to have time to prepare myself. Which I did, and it was great! I was totally comfortable. Not weirded out at all, being surrounded by aliens for the first time. It was fine. No,” Kara scoffs and waves her hand, almost knocking over her coffee cup. “No big deal.”

“I’m glad to hear that. A lot of people wouldn’t have been. Hell, your sister almost pulled her gun the first time I brought her, and that’s still one of the more tame reactions I’ve seen.”

“She didn’t tell me that,” Kara says with a frown. Maggie shrugs.

“It wasn’t a big deal. Nobody got hurt, and by the end of our drink she’d relaxed enough to see what it was I was trying to show her.”

“What was that?”

“That ‘alien’ doesn’t always mean ‘dangerous.'”

“Alex doesn’t think that.”

“I’m not blaming her. It’s her job; she’s literally trained to see ‘alien’ as ‘target’-”

“No, Maggie, just _listen_ …”

The words are there, hovering on the edge of her mind but Kara can’t seem to string them together in a way that would make Maggie understand what it is that Kara is thinking, what she’s feeling. Maggie waits and tilts her head, eyes softening and a small smile spreading across her face.

“Alex wouldn’t hurt someone for being different. For being alien.”

“Kara,” Maggie’s voice is quiet, soothing, and when she reaches across the table to take Kara’s hand in hers Kara doesn’t try to stop her. “I’m not saying she would.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“That your sister, on top of being one of the most single-minded and _stubborn_ women I have ever met is also one of the smartest. And kindest. She has a good head on her shoulders, and she tries to act tough, but it’s only to cover the fact that her heart is so big. I don’t think she would ever consciously hurt someone who didn’t have it coming. I don’t believe she’s capable.”

She squeezes Kara’s hand.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that in that first moment, her gut said to pull her gun. To protect herself from a threat she perceived to be there just because the people around her were aliens she didn’t know. And if that was _her_ reaction, when she is as kind and smart and as open minded as I think she is, what do you think someone else would have done in her place? Someone who believes humans and aliens should be ‘separate but equal’? Or someone who follows an ideology of aliens and their sympathizers being put to death for ‘intermingling and desecration of humanity for an ‘inferior’ species’?”

There’s a lull in the conversation for a moment as Kara mulls over what Maggie’s been saying. 

“Someone like Lex Luthor.”

“Yep,” Maggie nods. “The dude’s crazy, but he’s charismatic. His minions aren’t the majority, not by any means, but people are afraid of what they don’t understand and when ‘normal’ is something that changes daily people latch onto whatever they think will give them something stable.”

“Names with weight because they mean something to someone outside themselves”

Kara doesn’t realize she’s said it aloud until Maggie is nodding thoughtfully.

“That’s one way to look at it. Supergirl is like an anti-Lex. A symbol of hope and compassion against his hate and fear.”

“So why don’t people look to her for something stable? Or Superman? Why look to someone so...so-”

“Hateful?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know. Because he’s still human? Because, as horrible as he is, there are still people who believe the only thing that separated him from anyone else was the money, and that if they work hard enough or get that one big break, then they still have a shot of reaching that level. But waking up one day and knowing what it’s like to fly? Or be bulletproof? It’s never gonna happen, and they know it.”

“I never thought of it that way before.”

Maggie shrugs. “I’m not saying I agree with it. I’m not even saying I’m right because it’s about choice isn’t it? What to believe, who to follow, what lines to cross in the pursuit of what is ‘right.' People choose what they become and are stuck with whatever consequences follow. Lex, Alex-”

“Lena.”

Maggie nods slowly. “Yeah, her too.”

Kara fidgets with her empty mug, careful not to crack the gloss even as her stomach twists uncomfortably with her next question.

“Do you really think she’s in danger?”

“For helping?”

Kara nods. Maggie’s quiet for a moment, taking a bite of her sticky bun as her eyebrows pinch together in thought. Kara waits for the detective to finish, already anticipating what the answer will be.

“Honestly?” Maggie says slowly, “I think it wouldn’t hurt her to hire some extra security for the next few weeks. It’s like I said, helping Supergirl probably put her on a lot of shit lists, and they all had the kinds of connections and deep pockets as her brother without the orange jumpsuit.”

“The charges didn’t stick?”

“Nope. Roulette wasn’t the only one with connections. The ones who weren’t released immediately lawyered up and were barely put in the system before we had to let them go. The only ones in custody are the low-level grunts who know nothing and an accountant who had an outstanding warrant.”

“For what?”

“Tax evasion.” Maggie deadpans.

“Oh.”

Well, that’s ironic.

A quiet buzzing fills the air as Maggie’s phone vibrates in her pocket. “That’s my ride.”

Maggie flags down the waitress before fishing out her phone from her pocket. Maggie types out a quick reply one handed as she finishes the rest of her coffee. Kara sits quietly, thinking about their conversation.

“I don’t suppose there’s any way I can convince you to give me a list of names from that night, is there?”

She tries to be smooth, for that casual nonchalance she’s seen Alex pull it off time and time again. She fails. Miserably.

Maggie laughs.“Sorry, Ace, can’t do it. Captains orders. But if I do get the all clear, you’ll be the first to know.”

Maggie stands, draping her jacket over one shoulder and grabbing the ticket from the table. She lingers for a moment, shifting her weight from foot to foot before meeting Kara’s eyes.

“Listen, Kara,” Maggie smiles down at her, “We can’t all be Supergirl, but a person doesn’t need powers to make a difference. Sometimes something small is enough. Like accepting an early patrol because a rookie needs to talk about our new neighbors. Or the right article, written by the right person, to get past the fear and find the truth.”

Kara nods, before surprising the detective by standing up and pulling her into a hug. She feels Maggie tense up in surprise for a moment before easing in and returning the hug. She’s happy that Alex has a friend like Maggie, that she’s not isolating herself from friends outside work anymore.

Maggie will do her good.

“Thank you, Maggie.”

“Of course.” Maggie shrugs on her jacket and smiles, tapping two fingers to her forehead in a lazy salute. “See ya around, little Danvers.”

Kara watches Maggie go to the register and pull out a few bills, waving away the change before heading towards the door. She turns, offering one last wave in Kara’s direction, before slipping outside and heading towards the police car idling by the curb. She watches until Maggie is safely inside, smiling warmly at the nervous rookie behind the wheel as they pull away when an idea begins to form.

Kara hurries to stuff the last of her sticky buns in her mouth as she pulls out her phone, not bothering to wipe her fingers before scrolling through her contacts to the one she needs and hitting the call button.

“Winn! I need a favor...”

\-----

She meets Winn at his apartment, bearing fresh coffee and pastries. If she’s going to ask him to work on his day off, then she can at least make sure he’s comfortable and fed. He opens the door with bleary eyes and a grunt. He shuffles towards the couch and falls forward in a face plant. Kara closes the door behind her.

“S’not e’vn sven-thiry, ‘ou demn.” Winn groans.

“I know, I’m sorry, but it’s important.”

Winn grunts into the cushion. Kara sets the bag of food on the coffee table, and Winn’s head cocks slightly at the sound of the paper bag rustling by him. She smiles and goes to the chair at the other end of the coffee. Winn is still for a moment before slowly turning his head. He squints suspiciously at the bag.

“Are those what I think they are?”

“Bacon maple donuts, straight from Nebraska.”

He looks over at her, squinting turning into a tired glare even as she smiles brightly and holds out his coffee. They stay like that for a long minute. Then Winn is closing his eyes again and letting out a long sigh.

“Damn you, Danvers. Damn you and your delicious donuts.”

He pushes himself into a sitting position and accepts the coffee from Kara. Grabing two donuts from the bag, he takes an enormous bite and lets out a loud moan.

“I’s sthill warm!”

“Should I give you three a minute alone?”

“Yes.” Winn says even as he opens his eyes and smiles.

He keeps eating his breakfast, and Kara checks her emails on her phone, giving Winn time for the caffeine to work its way into his system. There’s an email already from Snapper saying the pelican piece has been approved to run in the morning’s Tribune paper. Kara reads it through once, then twice to make sure she hadn’t misread anything. She hasn’t. She bites her lip but can’t keep the squeal that makes it out.

“What’s got you so smiley?”

Kara passes Winn the phone. He reads it over and his face lights up with a smile to rival Kara’s own.

“Dude! That’s fantastic, congratulations!”

“Thanks,” Kara says as she takes her phone back. 

She takes a screenshot and opens her messages to send it to Alex when Maggie’s name catches her eye. She stops, fingers hovering over the screen as she remembers their conversation from this morning and her smile dims. She exhales softly and locks her phone.

“Sooo…”

Kara looks up at Winn as he sets his half-eaten donut on the coffee table, licking the last of the sugar off his hands before wiping his wet fingers on the cushions, before settling back in his spot on the arm of the couch.

“What’s goin’ on, Kara?”

Kara adjusts her glasses with one hand, fingers tapping her computer nervously with the other.

“I need a favor.”

“You said that. Is it a favor-favor or like,” Winn holds two fingers up to his eyes before gesturing to Kara, making explosion noises as he moves his hand outward. “A _super_ favor?”

Kara blinks at him incredulously. “What?”

“A super favor? Because, you know, your heat vision, and-” Winn does the motion again, dropping his hands in a huff when Kara still shakes her head in confusion. “Okay, you know what, this is why we lose at charades.”

“That’s nothing like my heat vision, though-”

“That’s beside the point!”

Kara refrains from rolling her eyes, settling for shaking her head instead. “It’s not a super favor.”

“Okay,” Winn says slowly, eyebrows knitting together as he looks at Kara in concern. “Then what’s wrong?”

“What makes you think something’s wrong?”

“Because you brought me donuts from Nebraska after waking me up at seven in the morning on my day off. And because your forehead is doing that wrinkle thing it does when you’re worried.”

Winn gestures to his forehead and Kara’s hand clamps over her own. She sighs.

“Nothing’s _wrong_ , exactly, I just...”

Winn watches her patiently waiting as Kara searches for the words. When the minutes pass, and she still hasn’t said anything Winn moves to the other side of the couch and takes her hand.

“Listen, Kara, you said it’s important right?”

Kara nods. “It is.”

“Okay, so, whatever it is, I’ve got your back.”

He smiles at her and Kara smiles back, feeling the pressure she’s been carrying in her chest since the night before start to loosen.

“Thanks, Winn.” She squeezes his hand and takes a breath.

“I need you to look into the high rollers who were spectators at the fight club.”

“Ah. So that’s totally not was I was expecting for eight in the morning. I thought the NCPD handled the cleanup?”

“Well, I mean, they did. You know, technically.”

“So why don’t you just fly down and ask for the information?”

“Oh I wouldn’t want to bother anyone…”

Kara looks down and fiddles with the edge of her shirt. She can see Winn watching her curiously, see’s the moment his eyes light up with mischievous glint and a shit eating grin begins to spread across his face.

“You’re trying to be sneaky.”

“Winn-”

“You want me to _hack_ the National City Police Department!”

His voice is positively _gleeful_ , the kind of gleeful he was when he’d successfully pranked Kara on April Fools, and Kara doesn’t even try to fight the groan that escapes as she hides her face in her hands.

“Don’t make this a thing.”

“Who’s making it a thing? I’m not making it a thing, Sneaky Miss-Sneaky Pants.”

“It’s not like you haven’t done this before.”

“And this is totally a super favor, the Superfriends are back!”

Kara snaps her head up, looking at him in utter exasperation. “Winn, we're not calling ourselves that.”

Winn scoffs. “C’mon, even Buffy had a name for her team. Superfriends is better than the Scooby gang ”

“I have another box full of bacon donuts with your name on it if you never call us that again.”

“No deal, Maiden of Might.”

Kara grabs the pillow next to her and swings. Winn laughs even as it hits him on the side of the head. He reaches for the half finished donut on the table and settles back on the other end of the couch with his legs laid out on the other cushions in front of him.

“You know, I would have done this for you without all the mystery. Not that I’m complaining about the donuts, but one of the best parts about working for DEO thing means I don’t have to sneak with this stuff anymore-”

“You can’t work this there.”

Winn takes a bite of his donut. “And why’s that?”

“Alex and J’onn can’t know.”

Winn blinks at her in surprise, apparently not expecting those to be the next words out of her mouth.

“What?”

“You can’t tell Alex or J’onn.”

“You’re joking.”

Kara’s expression doesn’t change and Winn’s disbelief slowly changes to match her seriousness, any lingering traces of his earlier teasing gone.

“You’re not joking. Kara, c’mon, they can’t _not_ know. They’re my bosses! One of them can read minds, and the other is your sister! Your very scary, very _protective_ older sister. Of course we’re telling them!”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Because...”

Kara trails off, not knowing how to phrase the thoughts swirling in her mind. Winn stares at Kara in concern, moving closer to the other end of the couch and sitting forward with his forearms resting on his knees.

“Kara, what’s going on?”

“The high rollers were all released without caution. It was too easy. I just want to make sure that they're not up to anything, you know, fishy.”

“Fishy? Kara, they're in business, and they were caught at an underground fight club. Of course things are going to be fishy.”

“Well, more fishy.”

“More fish- Kara, what's going on? Really?”

So Kara tells him everything that’s happened in the twenty-eight hours since the NCPD released the statement involving Lena and the Fight Club. She tells him about Maggie, and what she said and the article Snapper had assigned to her after reaming her publicly in the bullpen, she even tells him about going to Lena as Supergirl and the ensuing conversation.

Kara sighs and takes off her glasses, rubbing her face.

“I just want to make sure that she’s safe,” Kara says quietly. “She helped _save_ people, Winn, she doesn’t deserve another target on her back for that.”

“Yeah, no, I totally agree. It’s just weird for some people, you know? A Luthor and a Super-”

“-working together. I know. I’m so sick of hearing people say that as if it’s a sign of the apocalypse.” Kara rubs at her forehead harshly. “You know when I went back to thank her, she told me our names were a new measure for what it means to be good or not in this world? Like somehow we’re at two ends of a spectrum that are defined by the actions of our families and we _aren’t_.”

“No, you aren’t. After everything that happened with Myriad and Non, you’ve proven you fly your own path as Supergirl without your cousin’s help. Even if he did help with the L-Corp stuff, the city knew you would have been fine without him. But, Kara,” Winn leans forward “Lex killed dozens of people fighting your cousin. He was calling for a genocide of all aliens, he _buried_ the Luthor name and everything associated with it in the most public way possible. It doesn’t matter what Lena does, or how many people she helps, that weight is _never_ going away.”

Kara feels her face soften. She sometimes forgets that Winn has his own weight to carry, that Winn has a way of knowing what it means to have his name and what it means dictated by someone else’s actions. Forgets until moments like these where she sees the sadness reflected in his eyes. She reaches for his hand, squeezing it softly. He blinks once, twice, back with Kara in the present instead of being lost in the past with his father’s victims. He squeezes back before slipping his hand out of hers.

“Why is this bothering you so much?”

“Because,” Kara says softly. “It’s not fair. She’s shouldering the weight of her brother’s mistakes while the entire world is waiting for her to fail. She deserves better than that.”

“Even if she’s developing a detection device that targets aliens?”

“Yes.” Kara says firmly. “Especially then. She deserves a chance. People will always find monsters lurking in the shadows if nobody is willing to look past the fear and find the truth.”

The statement lingers in the air, heavy in the silence.

“I just want to make sure she’s going to be okay, Winn.” Kara says. “I have to do this. I understand if you don’t want to help, I won’t hold it against you, but please, don’t tell anyone else about it. Alex, J’onn, not even James. I don’t want them getting the wrong idea and going after her when she’s done nothing to deserve it.”

Winn rubs at his forehead and sighs. He stays like that, head in his hands and staring at the floor deep in thought. Kara watches him, trying to ignore the twisting in her gut as he takes longer and longer to respond.

“Kara,” Winn lets out a heavy sigh and shakes his head. “Don’t be dumb. Of course I’m going to help you.”

He looks up at her and smiles. Kara sags forward. She lets out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding before leaning forward and pulling him into a hug.

“Thank you.”

“I told you, Kara.” Winn says hugging her tighter. “I’ve always got your back. If you say she deserves a chance, then I trust you.”

They stay like that for a few more moments before pulling out of the hug. Winn claps his hands and rubs his hands together gleefully.

“So! Wanna bet on how long it takes me to crack their encryption this time? Ten potstickers say I get it in five.”

\-----

It’s cosier down in R&D. Cramped, shared workspaces, table’s cluttered with various parts or tools for whatever projects are in development, and somehow it always smells like a mix of melting rubber and wet metal. It is, without a doubt, the most chaotic and borderline disastrously organized area in the entire building.

Lena adores every square inch of it.

Being on first name terms with everyone from the director down to the interns. Coming down and seeing the changes being made, the progress they are making in the name of what is good. Being able to work with her employees as Lena, scientist and engineer, rather than ‘Ms. Luthor: CEO’. She feels more at home here, hunched over a workbench, than she ever has in the vast open space of her office on the fiftieth floor.

She turns the alien detection device over and makes quick work of the screws holding the metallic casing on, prying it up and away to reveal the circuitry underneath. It’s not working as it should, and with the burn marks on the circuit board and the frayed casing around the wires, Lena suspects a wiring issue. She picks up the wire stripper and carefully cuts around the jacket and strips it to expose the wires beneath and then clips both ends off, nimbly twisting the wires back together.

“Could you pass me the soldering iron, please.”

“Hm?”

Lena looks up at her assistant. Jess hasn’t moved from where she perched herself on the couch for the better part of an hour, frowning and huffing at the tablet in her hands as she gets updates from IT. As Jess glare before tapping harshly on the screen, Lena wonders if she should be concerned. As irritated as Jess gets with the IT department, she’s always managed to multitask without losing track of a conversation.

When Jess stops her tapping and looks up at Lena, Lena points to the soldering iron in the tool case next to the couch.

“The soldering iron, Jess.”

“Oh, right.”

Jess takes the soldering iron, cleaning the tip before handing it over. Lena plugs it in and tins it before swiveling around in her chair to face the couch while she waits for it to heat.

“What has you so distracted?”

Jess huffs and flings the tablet down onto the couch next to her. “I’m looking at the numbers from last night and waiting for Dan to text me. He wants to double check the change he’s about to approve.”

She rolls her eyes and Lena can’t help but smile.

“He’s approving it?”

“He will be once I’ve looked at it.”

Lena hums in assent and fiddles with the wire stripper. “Try not to scare them. I don't want to deal with HR today.”

Jess snorts and waves her hand. “It’s a simple change, one we went over three days ago. I shouldn’t need to hold his hand every time he approves something.”

“Last time he approved something without checking with you, you yelled at him for two hours.”

“ _Once._ It was once, and the network was down for hours because he didn't do his job and check. But this is minor. He should be capable of approving this by himself.”

Jess’ phone dings and she grimaces as she looks down at the screen.

“Mhmm. And if he asks you first then I won’t need to waste my afternoon talking to HR.”

“I’m touched that you’d go down. HR should know it’s a waste of time by now.”

Jess’s phone dings again, followed by a snarl, and Lena shakes her head.

“You’re distracting me. Go and hold Dan’s hand before I set something on fire.”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Jess grumbles as she grabs her bag. “Remember, you have a lunch appointment with Kara Danvers at one.”

“Mm, I know.”

“Don’t forget. _I_ don’t need to waste my lunch break watching her splutter and shuffle from foot to foot trying to get up the nerve to say ‘ _hi’_ to you.”

“ _Go.”_

Jess lets out an exaggerated groan and starts towards the elevator, dragging herself towards it like a petulant teenager. Lena turns back to her workbench, lifting the soldering iron with a grin before calling over her shoulder-

“And try not to make Dan cry this time.”

“I make no promises!”

\-----

Lena’s in the middle of soldering when her phone starts to vibrate. She sets the soldering iron down and swipes to answer before strategically placing her phone in the crook of her neck to keep it in place as she works. She picks up the iron again before she says anything.

"If he’s crying, you’re doing the paperwork. I told you I didn’t want to waste my afternoon with HR."

There’s a small pause, then-

“Ms.-Ms Luthor?”

Lena should have checked the number. Where she was expecting a ranting Jess, she has a very hesitant Dan instead.

_Well, at least he’s not crying._

"Ms Luthor?"

“Dan, hi. If this is about the latest change-”

“No, no. Um. It implemented without issue. Ms. Luthor, I- well. Um.”

She shifts her phone a little.

“Well, you see. We didn’t do anything, Ms Luthor. She just _came_ down and started-”

“Dan, I’m a busy woman. Is there a problem?”

“It’s Jess, Ms. Luthor. She’s on our floor.”

“Yes, I’m aware. She was on your floor earlier today.”

“No, Ms Luthor. She-She’s in the middle of the floor and she’s _yelling._ ”

Dan sounds like he’s about to cry and Lena can feel the headache building behind her eyes. She loses concentration for a second and her fingers slip down, catching the side of the soldering iron. Lena hisses and drops it with a thunk onto her workbench. She hasn’t burnt herself in years. Lena sets the phone onto the bench and ignores the tentative “Ms. Luthor” coming from the phone.

She walks over to the sink in the corner and runs her hand under cold water before retrieving the emergency medkit from under her workbench. She coats her fingers in anti-bacterial and wraps them in bandages before she picks up her phone to an uncertain Dan repeating her name.

“Ms. Luthor?”

“Yes Dan, I’m coming down now.”

“She’s yelling, Ms. Luthor.”

“I’ll be there soon.”

“She made the Service Desk cry, Ms. Luthor.”

 _“_ I’ll be there _soon,_ Dan.”

“Thank you, Ms. Luthor.”

She sets the soldering iron down, unplugs it and inspects her workbench carefully. Nothing is turned on; nothing will catch fire. Nothing in R&D, at any rate. Lena straightens, smooths her skirt and heads off towards the elevators. If the whole department is getting dressed down, there must be something wrong.

The elevator doors open to the sound of Jess yelling. Lena can hear her through the closed glass doors. She swipes her keycard and casually leans against a pillar as her assistant continues her tirade. The entire floor is silent but for the ringing phones and the hushed, scared “Good Afternoon, Service Desk.”

Everyone on the floor is watching as Jess squares off against a short, round man. Jack? Jim? Simon? Lena can’t quite remember his name. She knows he’s in charge of technical operations and that he’s shorter than Jess.

“Incompetent. You are all incompetent! _Especially you._ Did your mother drop you as a baby? Look at this and then tell me everything is _fine.”_

JackJimSimon squirms under Jess’ glare and takes the tablet, slowly shaking his head as he reads.

“E-everything looks f-”

“Dropped. On. Your. Head. Look at the damn data!”

JackJimSimon furrows his brow and shrinks another two inches. “I-I don’t see-”

“No, you _don’t._ Do you know why? Because _you_ are an incapable, under qualified, bumbling _idiot_ who can’t tell your ass from your elbow.”

Jess’s gaze flicks over to an empty desk and scowls. At first, all Lena can see is an empty desk and then she notices the two polished brown oxfords peaking out from underneath. Dan might not be crying, but he’s definitely taking cover. Lena can’t say she blames him.

“ _Dan_ , I can see you from here. Approve the change, or I swear, I’ll wear your balls for earrings.”

The amount of paperwork Lena’s going to have to fill out: bonuses, raises, paid stress leave.

“Jess!”

At the sound of her voice, heads crane towards her, JackJimSimon sags in relief, and Lena can hear a muffled “ _Oh thank God_ ” emanate out from under the desk. Jess turns and takes a breath that does nothing for the irritation on her face.

“They are useless-”

“Jess.”

“-and unfit-”

“Jess.”

“-and they deserve to be raked over the coals like the imbeciles they are-”

“ _Jess!_ ”

Jess glares at her, hands clenched at her sides and Lena just stares back at her mildly. The room seems to hold its breath around them, and Lena releases a slow breath. Not here.

“Let’s go into the briefing room, and you can tell me all about it.”

Jess continues to glare but mutters a “Fine.”

Lena turns to JackJimSimon.

“Is Briefing Room E available?”

JackJimSimon stares at her wide-eyed and nods mutely.

“Thank you…”

“Michael, Ms Luthor.”

 _Well_ , Lena reflects as she herds an irate Jess into Briefing Room E, _close enough_.

Before she can close the door, Jess yells over her shoulder “I swear to God, Dan. If you haven’t approved that change by the time I get out-”

“That’s _enough_ , Jess.”

Lena closes the door with a click as Jess throws herself into the nearest chair and begins to rant. Lena closes her eyes and counts to ten in her head and then a hundred and when she realizes that Jess doesn’t seem to be stopping, extends the count to two thousand and then ten thousand. Lena’s thankful that the briefing rooms are concrete and solid wood. If they were glass, she’d have to put on a performance.

“-and Service Desk doesn’t even know how to provision a _phone_ -”

Jess is running out of steam and Lena could be down in R&D fixing her wiring issue. As entertaining as this has been, she has paperwork to fill out and a visit to HR to make. Lena holds up her hand and opens her eyes.

“Do you have any idea how many complaints HR is going to receive about this?”

“They’ve had a slow week.”

“Jess.”

“Do _you_ know how many systems I’m going to have to fix? I’m going to be down here liaising with the security team for _weeks._ ”

“ _You_ will be filling out the paperwork this time. I hate paperwork from HR.”

“Fine. Whatever.”

Lena does a double-take. Jess hates HR almost as much as Lena does. If she’s agreeing to fill out ten forms in triplicate, there must be something deeper here than an IT screw up.

“Jess, what’s the matter.”

Jess bites her lip, rubbing at her arms. The irritation is plain on her face, and it takes her a full minute before she shakes her head and says quietly.

“I'm not sure.”

“You were sure enough to come down to the IT department and start yelling.”

“It could be nothing. It's just...” Jess rubs at the bridge of her nose and takes a breath. “There was an attempt on the firewall. It was unsuccessful, not anything serious, but it’s just _wrong._ It was so simple. No one here would try something that simple. They'd know it wouldn't get through. It _couldn’t_ have gotten through.”

Jess begins to work herself up again, hands shaking as she rubs at the spot on her forehead hard enough to cause a red spot. Lena goes around the table and takes her hand, pulling it away from her forehead and putting it on the table. She keeps her hand on Jess’s wrist and takes a deep breath, holding it a moment before releasing it. She repeats the pattern until Jess follows suit. They sit like that, breathing together until Lena can feel Jess’s heart rate slow down in her wrist and a clarity return in her eyes.

“Jess,” Lena says calmly. “It could've been the competition. Remember last time? You ranted like this until we found Sam and had it patched.”

“No, Lena,” Jess shakes her head. “This is different. This is-- Something’s weird.”

“How? What’s weird?”

Lena feels Jess’ wrist twitch under her hand as Jess fights against rubbing at her forehead. Instead, she closes her eyes, brow furrowing in thought, and Lena goes back to rubbing soothing circles on Jess’ wrist with her thumb. After a minute, a long, quiet minute that feels heavier in the absence of yelling, Jess gives a heavy sigh and shakes her head.

“I can’t say. Not yet. I just, give me a day or two. Please. I want to be certain, I _need_ to be sure.”

“Of course,” Lena nods, squeezing Jess’ hand firmly. She may not know what’s going on, but she knows Jess. If there’s something to know, Lena will. “Whatever you need.”

\-----

“I need more coffee."

Kara looks up from her laptop. Winn’s stretches from his spot on the couch, his laptop teetering on the edge of his knees.

“That’s gonna fall.”

Winn scoffs. “It’s not going to fall-”

Winn gives a last stretch, popping his back with a satisfied sigh. Kara watches as the laptop begins to teeter over the edge, only to settle back into place as Winn relaxes again. He smiles smugly at her.

“Told ya.”

Kara shakes her head affectionately. She watches Winn set his computer on the table and go into the kitchen and pour a new cup.

“I’ve missed this.”

“Hmm?”

“Working with you, around you. Being able to look up and being able to make weird faces at you over the computer while you think you're sneaky playing Minecraft. I haven’t had the chance to work with you outside of an earpiece or a briefing in weeks.”

“Dude, I know. I mean, I love working for the DEO and kicking absolute _ass_ , but it’s no Superfriends. It’s nice to actually see you and not over a body cam while I’m just some disembodied voice in your ear.”

“You said you wouldn’t call us that anymore.”

“Where’s my donuts? You promised me donuts.”

“I missed you too, Winn.”

“D’aww, c’mere Danvers. Bring it in.” Winn reaches out to her, struggling off the couch to envelope her in a bearhug. She’s missed this too.

“You know what I don’t miss, though?” Winn says, going back to the kitchen for his coffee before coming back and plopping on the couch. Kara winces as she watches the liquid come _this_ close to spilling out. “Sneaking around Ms. Grant’s back trying to stop whatever Big Bad decided to pop up. Do you know how hard it is to code between girlfriends turning evil and her screeching ‘ _Kiera’_ in the background? Spoiler alert, it’s not easy!”

Kara rolls her eyes with a smile and looks back at the open word document on her screen, glaring at the blinking cursor mocking her.

“And that office. I’ll remember it fondly, our first super awesome secret base, our Super Lair-”

“No.”

“But it smelled like something _died_ in there! Well, I mean, he technically did, but that’s beside the point-”

Kara’s phone buzzes from the table, screen lighting up with an incoming call. Kara picks it up and makes a face as she sees ‘Snapper’s caller ID. She puts it back on the table and looks back at the open word document, reading what she’s written so far.

“Why Ms Danvers, are you _avoiding_ someone?”

“No.”

Her phone buzzes again, this time from a slew of text messages because apparently, Snapper would rather type out what he’d wanted to tell her rather than leave a message. Kara doesn’t even reach for it. Winn gasps, clutching his chest dramatically.

“You _are!_ ”

Kara snatches another pillow from the couch and lobs it at him. “It’s just Snapper. I emailed him this morning telling him I was following a lead on the AFC and that I’d send him a rough draft before lunch.”

“AFC?”

“Alien fight club,” Kara explains.

“Mhmm. And how long have you been ignoring him?”

“I’m not ignoring him!”

“Kara, you were glaring at your phone so hard I’m surprised you didn’t melt it. Which, you know, you can actually do.”

“I’m following a source!”

“You are the source!”

“He doesn’t know that!” Kara huffs, “Besides, it’s _hard_ to interview myself.”

“Yeah, because you’ve always struggled with talking to yourself.”

“It’s just-” Kara sighs “No matter what I do or say, it’s wrong. The quotes I’ve given him for Supergirl don’t go deep enough, or my writing is too passionate. I just want to write this the way I saw it, the way I want to. I want to write it first before he tears it all to shreds.”

“Kara.”

Kara’s phone buzzes angrily on the table again.

“Look, fine, I’m texting him now, happy?” she grabs her phone and waves it in Winn’s face and shoots off a response.

Kara’s phone dings again and Winn looks up. “Snapper _again_?”

Kara checks and sees a calendar notification for that afternoon. She smiles.

“No, I have lunch with um...with Lena.”

“Like Luthor?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” Winn blinks slowly. “Huh. That’s...huh.”

“It’s for work.”

It comes out before she can think about it. It’s a barefaced lie, she knows it, and from the look on Winn’s face, he knows it too.

“No, I mean I’m just surprised you’re seeing her again. Alex was muttering all day yesterday about you having lunch with her. Kiiiiinda annoying.” He laughs then stops. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

“It’s for _work_.” That’s her story, and she’s sticking to it. She types out one last sentence before clicking save. Opening an email to Snapper, she attaches the article in an attachment before writing of a quick paragraph explaining how ‘productive’ her morning had been and hitting send.

“Okay, got it, whatever you say,” Winn says, holding his hands up in surrender as he takes his computer from the table. “Just, you know, if you happen to see her lab and you feel _inclined_ to grab a few pictures I wouldn’t say no. You know. For science.”

“Oh, ew, Winn!”

Winn sputters. “I meant literally for science!”

Kara shakes her head as she packs her computer into her bag. “Okay, got it, whatever you say.”

“Dirty! You have a dirty mind, Danvers!”

Kara slings her bag over her shoulder and bolts for the door, smiling as Winn continues to sputter behind her.

“Enjoy your _work_ lunch.”

Kara slams the door with a _little_ more oomph than she’d usually use. If the door rattles on its hinges behind her, it’s got absolutely nothing to do with her work lunch.

\-----

Kara stands in the lobby, frowning up at Lena’s empty office. She checks the time on her phone, then the texts from the night before to make sure that, yes, they were meeting at one. Kara adjusts her glasses and looks around. The security desk is surrounded by tall, heavyset men bemoaning the football score. One, a tall, square man with hair as red as his face nods at one of the security guards behind the desk.

“-meeting with Ms Luthor and _Jess_ in the server room. They want to talk about hiring additionals.”

Kara perks up at the mention of Lena. The redhead rolls his eyes and the man behind the desk laughs good-naturedly. “Wouldn’t want to keep them waiting, Jackie. That is unless you feel like dealing with Jess’ wrath.”

Jackie grimaces and nods, “I’ll talk to you later, Vinnie. You gotta tell me what you think of the Nat’s defensive line-up.”

On a whim, Kara follows Jackie as he lumbers away and into an elevator, smiling and ducking her head when he tries to make eye contact.

“You uh, you work in the building?”

Kara laughs awkwardly and shifts. “No, um, just having lunch with a friend!”

The elevator dings for the fourth floor and Jackie steps out, Kara following.

“Well, nice t’meetcha.”

“Oh! Yes! You too.”

Kara makes to move in the opposite direction and watches as Jackie lumbers down the corridor. She doubles back and trails after him, smiling and nodding at the people who pass her. He scans his keycard at a heavy door, and she hears a “Ms. Luthor, you wanted to see me?”

Kara hesitates before slipping inside. She hovers by the door and listens to the quiet, rough murmur of Jackie and a scathing reply.

“Listen, you gigantic red gorilla, do you have any _idea_ what 'security' means or did you just pass your course by grunting and throwing a sack of sand around?”

Kara edges closer and see Jackie grimacing and Lena sighing. “Jess, that is not what we agreed on.”

“We agreed that you’d talk to security." 

“We can talk about this after lunch. I have an appointment who should be-”

“Um, here. Hi!”

In unison, Jackie, Lena, and Jess turn toward her. Lena’s eyebrows raised in surprise, Jackie’s drawn together in confusion and Jess with a thunderous expression on her face.

“Kara! Hi. What- how did you get in here? It’s a restricted area.”

“I’m buying you a dictionary and underlining the word ‘security’ for you-”

“ _Jess._ ”

“-I doubt you could find it. Se-cur-it-y. Two syllables too big for you. Here, look I'll google it for you and then you can understand why a _reporter_ shouldn't be allowed in a _restricted area._ ”

“Jackie,” Lena says cutting Jess off. “I have half an hour to speak with you at two. We will discuss _all_ options and hash out a plan.”

Kara watches as Jackie nods frantically before Lena turns towards her assistant.

“Jess, I’m going on lunch. Which means _you_ are taking a break as well.”

“Ms. Luthor, I have to go and talk to IT, security want to speak to me about-”

“It can wait. You’ve been working since six, if I have to eat, so do you.”

Jess opens her mouth to argue, but Lena cuts her off.

“I mean it, Jess. Go. Get some food, take a walk, beat the hell out of a trash can, torment the IT department with that ridiculous drone, I don’t care. But you’re not coming back into this building until at least two-thirty even if I have to disable your security pass myself, is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Good. You can walk out with Ms. Danvers and I.”

Lena turns towards the guard Kara had followed down, who seems to snap to attention. “Jackie, if you would be so kind as to escort Ms. Danvers back to the elevator. Jess and I will follow in a moment after we’ve collected our bags from the briefing room.”

Jess glares at Jackie and Kara is amazed at how a man over six foot can make himself look so small. She looks away for a moment to hide her smile and catches Lena staring at Jess, an eyebrow raised and an unimpressed look on her face. Jackie quickly nods and starts leading Kara back to the elevator as fast as he can without actually running. Kara hears Jess scoff even as she and Lena walk in the opposite direction.

“Really, Ms. Luthor, you need a new head of security.” Jess says in a low voice. “Preferably one with a backbone against ‘ _pretty girls’_.”

“I’m not arguing this with you again.”

“We agreed that you’d talk to security and hire at least two more guards per shift, and maybe a protective detail because Tarzan thinks that he can take on the world by beating his chest and bellowing.”

“When I speak do you hear the words coming out of my mouth or is it just the Peanut’s ‘ _wham wham wham_ ’ sounds?”

“You know I’m right.”

“ _You_ are on thin ice.”

“Oh come on…”

Jackie stops as they reach the elevator and Kara stumbles trying to stop herself from crashing into him.

They ride down in silence, Jackie shifting from foot-to-foot beside her and rubbing the back of his red neck. Kara wonders for a moment where he’d been sunburnt before the elevator opens at the lobby and they step out, Kara awkwardly following Jackie to the security desk and listening as he relays off a series of instructions. Minutes pass and the elevator dings again, Lena and Jess both step out and make their way over them. Lena smiles at Kara before straightening and turning to Jackie.

“Don’t let her back into the building until I’m back and she’s had food. Use force if necessary.”

“How am I supposed to prove that I’ve eaten?”

“You’re a smart woman. You’ll figure it out.”

Jess stares at Lena, pursed lips forced into a smile and the most ‘I’m-imagining-six-ways-of-killing-you-painfully’ eyes Kara has seen on anyone other that Cat. Lena smiles sweetly back and Jess turns around, not before taking a quick step towards Jackie. Jackie’s eyes go wide, and he stumbles back, smacking into the door. Jess pulls out her phone, nods at Lena, smugly satisfied and walks away.

Lena groans softly, muttering about paperwork under her breath as she shakes her head and turns to Kara. She smiles softly.

“Hello. Again.”

Kara smiles back, eyebrows pinched together sympathetically.

“Long day?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“I can imagine. Jess seems really…”

Kara hesitates, searching for the right word as Lena cocks an eyebrow in amusement.

“...passionate?”

Lena laughs. “That’s one way of putting it. Most people just say ‘insane.'”

“What, no! She obviously cares about her job, though I’ll admit now I’m a little confused on what that actually is?” Kara phrases it as a question, but Lena just smiles at her and says nothing. Kara files that question away for later and continues. “And if she were a man nobody would think twice about it or say she’s ‘insane.'”

“Very true. I remember when we first started working together I thought it was an act before she told a very well known, and very respected, department head off for pushing an idea aside just because it came from ‘the little woman in the corner.' Her words, not his.”

“Really? Who?”

“My brother.”

“Oh. Wow,” Kara says blinking. “How did he take that?”

“He laughed about it. He laughed, ruffled her hair, and said she ‘had spunk.'”

“Oh _no_.”

“Oh yes.” Lena says with a nod. “It drove her mad. I had to listen to her ranting about sexist, patronising jackasses in the workplace for a month.”

Kara tries to imagine it in her head, tries to imagine Jess going after a laughing Lex Luthor the way she’d gone after Dan, but her mind can’t seem to wrap itself around the idea.

“When was this?”

The smile on Lena’s face falters. “Four, maybe five years ago? It was before- well. It was Before.”

The smile is gone completely from Lena’s face now. Lena tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear almost self-consciously, staring at the ground almost guiltily as the conversation trails off. Kara silently kicks herself for not letting it. She wants to reach out to Lena, to tell her...what? That everything is okay? That it’s not her fault? That remembering her brother smiling and laughing doesn’t make her an awful person?

It’s not Kara’s place.

It’s not Kara’s place, even if her fingers twitch at her side wanting to fix it.

Her stomach rumbles loudly, breaking the silence. Lena blinks, as if bringing herself back to the present, and looks up at Kara. Kara smiles sheepishly.

“So...food?”

Lena smiles back, the previous conversation forgotten. “Follow me.”

\-----

“No way.”

“You brought the best potstickers, now it’s my turn.”

Kara looks to the hot dog cart and then to Lena, blinking in surprise. She thought they’d be going to a sushi place or a salad place or something trendy and upmarket, not _hot dogs._ But here she is, standing with Lena Luthor in front of the shabbiest hot dog cart Kara’s ever seen.

“Hot dogs.”

“Yes.”

“You’re showing me the best _hot dogs_.”

“What? Can’t a girl enjoy a little street meat now and then?”

There’s a gleam in Lena’s eyes like she knows exactly how that sounds, and Kara groans.

“Please, never say that again. Ever. Ever, ever, _ever_.”

Lena shakes her head with a smile and goes up to the cart. Kara watches her greet the vendor by name, Reggie, and then casually ask for two hot dogs with everything “To start.” before she turns to Kara “Are you allergic to anything?”

“No, no foods. I’ll eat anything.”

She watches as Reggie expertly piles ‘everything’ onto the inside of the bun and hand first one hot dog and then the other to Lena.

Lena hands Kara her hot dog and watches expectantly as Kara unwraps the foil. It’s nothing special. Kara looks up at Lena skeptically before turning back to her food. She takes a bite.

And moans.

“Oh my _gosh._ ”

Lena laughs. “I told you! The best cart in the city.”

“I'm never doubting you again.” Kara closes her eyes and smiles, her words muffled around a mouthful of hot dog.

“Nor should you. You may have the best potstickers, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“Lena Luthor, magician extraordinaire.”

“I perform Friday’s and Saturday’s at the Canary Club. Ladies get in free before ten.”

Kara grins and finishes her hot dog in two bites. She wonders if Lena would look at her strangely if she went back and ordered another half dozen. Lena must see something in her eye anyway.

“Are you still hungry?”

“A little. I um, I didn’t have breakfast.”

“You should’ve said, here, let me get you another.”

“Ohh, psh no, it’s okay!”

“No, here. I’ll have..hm. No breakfast? I’ll have two hotdogs, one with everything, one with sauerkraut.”

Lena presses the hot dogs into each of Kara’s hands, and Kara beams at her, a warmth spreading in the pit of her stomach. She’ll have to eat at least another two after she leaves but for now, her stomach won’t be raging at her.

They circle the park, making up stories about the people around them to pass the time. It’s light and fun, and one of the most ridiculous conversations Kara’s had in awhile.

It makes her smile.

They’re sitting on a bench, Kara arguing the origin of the man in the hideous neon orange argyle sweater _‘He’s clearly a clown on the run, Lena, look at his hair!’_ when her phone begins to buzz in her pocket. She stops, fumbling for it. “Oh shoot, I’m sorry. Is it okay if I-”

“Of course”

Kara pulls the phone out from where it’s trapped in her pocket and bites back a groan at the name on the screen. Snapper.

“Kara Danvers.”

“Rookie. I want you in my office in thirty.”

“Sure, chief. Is there anything I need to-.”

“Thirty.”

The line goes dead, and Kara sighs. “Well, duty calls.”

She gathers the trash from around her, which had somehow amassed into a small mountain without her realizing, and crumples it together while looking for a garbage can. Lena does the same and motions towards the far end of the park.

“There’s a trash can that way.”

“There’s not one closer?”

“Yes, but that entrance is closer to CatCo and I’m not quite ready to head back to the office.”

“IT?”

“HR.”

Lena scowls as she says it and Kara laughs, gesturing for Lena to lead the way. They walk in a comfortable silence until they’ve reached the entrance. Lena throws away their trash and turns to Kara, stuffing her hands into her pocket.

“I’m glad we did this again, Kara.”

“Me too. And, again, I’m sorry about yesterday’s lunch.”

Lena shakes her head. “Don’t be. Like I said, it’s rare I get to enjoy my lunch, and now I’ve gotten to do just that twice in two days.”

“But the interview-”

“Was worth the company.” Lena smiles hesitantly. “I told you I came to National City to get a fresh start and so far you seem to be the only person willing to give me that. Well, you and Supergirl, ironically enough. So, yes, I will take an impromptu interview over lunch anytime if it means I can have lunch with you.”

A warmth spreads across Kara’s chest, and she clenches her hand beside her to keep from reaching out. It's a familiar feeling; she has to rein herself in, the need for touch, to be tactile and embrace people she hardly knew was an impulse that she had to moderate when Kara had first landed on Earth. She doesn't know if Lena would want or appreciate a hug, so she settles for a warm smile and sticks her hand out, ducking her head awkwardly. She wishes that she could reassure Lena that Kara _wants_ to talk to her without an ulterior motive, wishes that she could hug Lena and tell her that her brother’s crimes don’t mar her in Kara’s eyes but she can’t. They’re not friends.

Not yet.

“I hope your day gets better, Lena.”

Lena takes her hand and shakes it, squeezing gently for a moment before letting go and smiling warmly at Kara.

“It already has.”

\-----

Exactly twenty-eight minutes later Kara stands outside Snapper’s office. She’s been hovering outside of Snapper’s office for two minutes, steeling herself for the inevitable torrent of abuse that’ll happen when she enters. She’s taken on Kryptonians and faced down a real shock jock, why is Snapper so intimidating? If she can take on Non, if she can work for Cat Grant then she can take on Snapper Carr. She can do this.

She takes a breath and knocks on the door, waiting a moment before pushing it open.

“You wanted to see me, Chief?”

Snapper is at his desk, reading over papers with a frown and red pen in hand. He waves Kara inside, not looking away from the paper as he marks it.

“Danvers, come in.”

Kara steps fully into the office and closes the door behind her. She lingers by the door as Snapper continues reading. She fights the urge to cross her arms over her chest as the silence stretches, awkward and unsure of what to do with herself.

After a minute, a very _long_ minute, Snapper scoffs to himself.

“Sloppy. Absolutely sloppy.” He uncaps his pen and looks up at Kara over his glasses. “You can sit, Rookie, the chair’s not going to bite.”

Kara nods and moves forward as Snapper begins marking up the papers in front of him. She sits down slowly, gingerly, on the edge of the chair almost expecting Snapper to change his mind. She never gets to sit, let alone be invited Kara sees Morris’ name at the top of the first page before Snapper flips it and feels a flash of sympathy as the article becomes more red than white.

Kara waits until Snapper is on the last page before breaking the silence. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes.”

Snapper caps his pen and takes off his glasses. He folds his arms across his desk and stares at Kara with an unreadable expression.

“You disobeyed me. Again.”

“Sir?”

“Did you or did you not have lunch with Lena Luthor yesterday.”

“Yes-”

“And were you or were you not suppose to get me a quote from Lena Luthor regarding the illegal fight club.”

“Yes-”

“The illegal, _alien,_ fight club that she had a hand in ending. The illegal alien fight club I said you could take a crack at if you got me that quote.”

Kara says nothing, waiting to see if he would continue. When Snapper tilts his head at her and doesn’t say anything else Kara answers.

“I got a quote. But, I…”

Kara trails off and Snapper squints at her.

“You…?”

Kara says nothing even as her mind races. She’s seen the look on his face before. It’s the same look Ms. Grant would get right before firing someone. Snapper looks at Kara for a long moment before nodding to himself. He moves Morris’ article off to the side and opens his desk drawer, pulling out a folder. A blue folder. A folder used for major stories, centerpiece stories. A folder that is currently being held out to Kara. _Why was it being held out to Kara?_

She takes it delicately. She stares at it in her hands for a moment before taking a breath and opening it slowly. Inside, completely unmarked, is an article about Supergirl and the alien fight club.

Her article.

Her heart begins to pound for an entirely different reason as she looks up at Snapper, blinking rapidly in confusion. He stares back at her expectantly with his arms folded across his desk.

“I don’t understand.”

“The themes are good,” Snapper says, taking the folder back. “You have a solid build up with have an eyewitness account of what happened that night. It’s rough, but it’s a start. With some work, it could be a solid article.”

Snapper looks up at Kara, carefull yet curious.

“You left Luthor out of it.”

“I got a quote-”

  
“You wrote around a sentence. A passing mention, at best.”

“Why did you leave her out?”

“I didn’t think it was needed. With Supergirl, and everything else. I figured it was enough.”

“Do you remember what we talked about yesterday when I told you to get the quote? About what this story is actually about?”

“Luthor’s and Supers.”

“Yes,” Snapper says, nodding soundly. “Luthor’s, Supers, the bad blood between the houses. When I sent you to get that quote I figured we could frame it Game of Thrones style, use the drama to sell a few extra papers. But then you did something no one else had.”

“What?”

“You got perspective.”

Snapper puts his glasses back on, flipping through the pages slowly. He stops on the second page and reads out a section before taking off his glasses and looking back at Kara.

“I’ve spent the last twenty-four hours reading every article, every tweet, every idiot’s idea about this story and not one person has made it this personal.”

“Because I’m over emotional?”

“Because you took them off a pedestal in a world that sees them as Gods or Monsters. You’re giving them a soul that’s relatable, that people can connect to, and that’s not easy. But, Danvers, people don’t want to relate to aliens. Hell, people don’t want to connect to other people. You need the human side, Luthor’s side. Otherwise, you’re letting them ignore the point that you’re trying to make and cling to their ignorance instead.”

Kara opens her mouth to defend herself and then stops, closing her mouth and staring in dumbfounded confusion. Did he just praise her?

“You wanted a story that matters. This is a story that matters. So take it and show me what you can do.”

Kara nods dumbly. She takes the blue folder from Snapper again and stands.

“Thank you, sir.”

Snapper picks up his glasses and begins cleaning them. Kara turns at the apparent dismissal and heads for the door, her head still spinning from the unexpected conversation. Snapper coughs behind her.

“Danvers.”

She turns.

“About yesterday.”

Kara feels her spine stiffen, and she stands there, waiting.

“I’m sorry.”

The tension leaves her as suddenly as it came. Kara's eyes widen in surprise, and she clutches the folder tighter. What is happening today?

Snapper reaches for the mug on his desk, takes a sip and grimaces.

“I was out of line speaking to you like that. Especially in front of the others.”

“It’s alright, sir-”

“No, it’s not.”

“You’re young,” Snapper says, “You have no experience. And frankly, I had no idea you existed until Cat Grant dropped you on my lap and left for whatever Eat Pray Love journey she left on.”

Kara imagines Ms. Grant hearing that and bites back a smile. Snapper doesn’t notice.

“You question everything. You completely disregard instructions. I thought it was a mistake, that she had made a mistake, and that I’d have to explain to her why her doe-eyed assistant was no longer with us. But do you know one of the most frustrating things about Cat Grant is?”

“She doesn’t make mistakes.”

“No, she does not.” Snapper sighs. “You may have no training or experience, but you have an instinct that I’ve seen in only a handful of reporters, Danvers. Something that isn't taught. So, no, she didn’t make a mistake, but I have. I did. And I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Kara blinks at him, utterly speechless. Snapper coughs awkwardly, and Kara fumbles with her folder.

“Thank you, sir.”

Snapper nods. “Now go. I want the full article on my desk by the end of the week.”

With that Snapper pushes his glasses up his nose and reaches for another stack of papers, red pen in hand. Kara leaves, closing the office door with a quiet click behind her, before pinching her arm harshly. A sharp pain goes as quickly as it comes and Kara walks back to her office in a daze.

She sets the folder on her desk and opens her computer. She pulls the word document from that morning up, staring at the words on the screen until they start to bleed together. She shakes her head, opens a fresh page, and sits up straight.

She can do this.

\-----

Two hours later Kara is slumped in her chair, staring at the blinking cursor that taunts her from the still blank word document.

She can’t do this.

She has the words, teetering on the edge of her mind ready to come out with a stroke of her finger, but she can’t bring herself to do it - not when it means bringing Lena further into the story, and she really doesn't want to do that.

_“This is dispatch, we have reports of a robbery on Ninth and Lake. Any available units, please respond.”_

The police scanner Winn had fixed and given to her as a going-away present crackles to life from inside her desk drawer. She pulls it out and turns it off so as not to attract attention from her coworkers. Then she smiles. 

Well, if she can't write, punching a few bad guys ought to clear her head. She ducks out to the foyer, passing the line at the elevator for the stairwell as she heads to the roof. Moments later she's up in the air, exhilarated and banking hard, speeding towards where she hears the shrill of the bank alarm.

She’s almost to the scene when a scream cuts through the air. She stops, listening, and it comes again. Eighth and Park. It's not _far_ from the robbery, and with the police sirens as loud as they are - yes. Kara can see the cops arriving on scene, a quick scan of the building shows the burglars are long gone.

She banks left and begins to slow. Eighth Avenue it is.

\-----

“You don’t want to do that.”

Kara lands behind the mugger, trying to stay in eye line with the person on the ground so they know she’s here. That they’re safe. The mugger doesn’t see her, not bothering to turn around, and scoffs.

“I’ll do what I damn want, you needa mind your business lady.”

“This _is_ my business.”

The mugger turns, sees Supergirl and lets out a small, soft “Oh.”

“Drop the knife.”

The mugger nods dumbly, drops the blade in front of him and slowly backs away after a few feet, he turns and sprints up the alleyway. Kara sighs.

“Why do they _always_ run?”

Kara speeds off after him, catching him by the collar and carefully turning him around. He stares at her dumbfounded, and she raises her eyebrow.

“Listen, lady, I’m not lookin’ for trouble-”

Kara snorts and looks around. There's a pole five meters away that she could secure him to while they wait for backup. She activates her earpiece “Winn. I need you to call Detective Sawyer and let her know that Supergirl has a gift for her in the alleyway off of Eighth and Park.”

She hangs up and leads him to the pole. She sits him on the ground, using the spare pair of zip ties she keeps up her sleeve, and secures him to a pole before answering.

“You tried to mug someone. Maybe I should get you a dictionary so you can check the definition of ‘trouble.'

“Bet I know what I’d find next to ‘bitch.'”

Kara rolls her eyes and stands.

The terrified person has just started picking himself? Herself? Off the ground. Kara offers a hand, and they take it gratefully.

“Thank you, Supergirl.”

“Sorry about that, I just needed to tie up a loose end.”

The victim quirks a smile at the bad pun as they stand, staggering a bit as they put weight on their left leg. Kara is quick to catch them, putting an arm around their shoulder. She’s a young woman, Kara realizes, much younger than Kara would have guessed under the wet clothes and grime from the alley.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just twisted my ankle.”

“Here, let me check-”

“Supergirl!”

Kara turns and sees Maggie striding down the alley, a young police officer trailing hesitantly behind her.

“Ma-Detective Sawyer!”

“A mutual friend said you have a present for me?” Maggie asks, looking between Kara and the young woman leaning against her in confusion.

“Right. I was flying over to help with the robbery on Ninth when I heard…”

“Dani.”

“-Dani here in a bit of trouble. Some jerk thought that he could take her watch and wallet without permission."

“And where is he now?”

Kara turns to Dani “I’m going to leave you in the capable hands of-”

“Sergeant Ramirez.”

“Right. You’ll be safe with her, while I take Detective Sawyer down the alleyway.”

Kara leads Maggie down the grimy alleyway to where the mugger is secured to the pole.

“Thanks for the cleanup.”

Maggie nods “Thanks for the assist, Supergirl.”

Kara smiles and takes off, already hearing sirens in the distance.

Two robberies and a prevented shooting later, with the perpetrators in the hands of the police, the twisted feeling in Kara’s stomach has lessened. When she’s Supergirl when she lets herself get lost in the image, the cape, her family’s crest emblazoned on her chest. There’s a part of her that feels free, the part that she always has to restrain and hold back. Everything else melts away. She hovers over the city, just watching. It’s quiet now, calm, and the thoughts she had been pushing aside come back in full force.

The press release. Jess telling Lena to hire more security for L-Corp, for Lena. Her stomach rolls and flips when she thinks of her article and Snapper’s urging to go deeper and interview Lena. Kara had been so careful to keep her out of the first draft. This is her story, she asked for it, but the consequences of pursuing it nag at her. The chance that she’s putting Lena in danger or exposing her to more hateful rhetoric makes her insides clench and the unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach return in full force.

Kara doesn’t realize she’s staring at the L-Corp building until she sees Lena coming into her office, hand to her head as she talks on the phone. She watches Lena move to her desk as she mutters darkly to herself. Something about forms and paid leave. Kara smiles to herself. Lena’s had the meeting with HR, then. Without realizing, she’s dipped below the cloudline and started to drift closer to L-Corp’s offices. Kara stops and looks down. She doesn’t want to go in as Supergirl. It’s not Supergirl who needs to see her. It’s not _Supergirl_ who wants to spend time with her, to reassure herself that Lena is okay.

That Lena is _safe_.

Kara lands in an alleyway behind the building, and the pit in her stomach begins to lessen.

\-----

The sun started to set outside, bathing Lena’s office in a soft, orange light as it reflects off the glass skyscrapers nearby. It reminds Lena of liquid gold, of sunsets on the beach, of quiet lunches on balconies while basking in the sun.

It has been, without a doubt, one of the longest days Lena has had since moving to National City. All she wants is to go home and curl up with a glass of whiskey yet here she is, going through yet _another_ email from HR about the paperwork that would need to be completed due to that morning’s ‘incident.'

Lena types out a quick reply informing them she and Jess would be there first thing because if she has to suffer through this, she’s taking Jess down with her. She sends the email off and continues scrolling through her inbox to see what needs her immediate attention and what can wait. A few things catch her attention. Lena looks at the time and does the math in her head. If she’s quick, she might leave the office before ten.

An email alert flashes on her screen, _another_ one from HR, and she can’t help but scowl at the screen as she opens it.

“Lena?”

Lena looks up in surprise. The door to her office is half open, Kara peeking around it almost apprehensively even as she gives Lena a small smile in greeting. Lena returns it with a full smile of her own.

“Kara!” Lena returns the smile with a wide one of her own. “This is a pleasant surprise. Please, come in.”

“Well, you know, I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d come say hi.”

“I’m glad you did. It’s been what, a few hours since I saw you last?”

Lena’s voice is light, teasing, but Kara still feels herself flush in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, you’re right-”

“Kara,” Lena says firmly. Kara shuts her mouth with a click. “Don’t apologize. I’ve told you, you’re always welcome.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Oh, everything is fine!”

“For an excellent reporter you’re a terrible liar.” Lena leans back in her chair. “Would you like to talk about it?”

Kara bites the inside of her cheek. Lena can see the indecisiveness in her eyes, the hesitation, and she feels the familiar pang in her stomach. She’s not hurt, it’s happened far too often for Lena to be hurt, but the idea of Kara not trusting her makes her stomach roll. She thought they’d been closer than that. It’s not the first time she’s been wrong.

“It’s alright, Kara. You don’t have to.” Lena says with what she hopes is a gentle smile. “But if there is anything I can do-”

“It’s the article that I’m writing.”

It comes out in a rush of words. Lena stops, confused. She watches Kara fiddles with her hands, pacing a bit as she works her mouth as if willing the words to come out only to grow more agitated as nothing does. She lets out a huff of frustration and Lena stands slowly from her desk, taking the water jug and two glasses, before moving over to the couch. Kara follows quietly. She sits on the opposite end of the sofa as Lena pours them both some water, brows pinching together as she stares down at her lap and twists at her sleeve.

“Here,” Lena says as she passes Kara a glass, relieved when Kara takes a long, slow sip.

“Now, what’s this about your article?”

Kara takes a breath.

“Do you remember how my boss wanted me to get a quote from you yesterday about what happened at the docs?” Lena nods and Kara continues. “Well I wrote something about it, and now my boss wants it to be a full article. About you, and Supergirl, and what happened at the fight club and I all I keep thinking about is the press release from the NCPD and how my sister’s friend who works for them said they shouldn’t have even _mentioned_ you by name-”

“Kara...”

“-because it could put you in danger. And to write this, my editor wants me to dig deeper and mention you more than I have. I’ve been trying to keep you out of it. I don’t want to be the reason you’re in danger-”

“Kara.”

“-not when all you’ve tried to do is _help_ people-”

On impulse, Lena reaches out and takes her hand.

“ _Kara.”_

Kara trails off and stares at her open-mouthed. Lena squeezes her hand once and smiles.

“You’re sweet, Kara, but really, I’ll be alright. Threats come with the Luthor territory; it’s nothing I haven’t handled before.”

“But you shouldn’t have to!"

Lena looks away, staring out to the balcony and beyond. The words come without them meaning to.

“No one’s bothered to ask me whether or not I was comfortable being in the spotlight before. They've commented on it, but they've never asked.”

Lena takes a breath and releases it in a whoosh of air. She tears her attention away from the balcony and smiles at Kara.

“I’m touched that you would try to keep me out of harm’s way, but you don’t need to. I knew what I was doing that night, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. So write the article. Mention me. Do whatever it is you need to and trust me when I say I’ll be alright.”

“But what about-”

“I can handle whatever the media or the public throw at me, Kara.” Lena says, squeezing her hand. “Write the article. Because it’s going to happen eventually, and if anyone is going to give a fair, unbiased view of what happened that night, it’s you.”

Kara sits a little straighter. Lena sees the fire, the passion that she’s come to associate with Kara return to her eyes and when she nods, it’s decisive.

“Okay.”

Kara pauses.

“Would um. Would it be okay if- Would you mind if I stayed for a little while?”

Warmth spreads through Lena’s chest like liquid sunshine, and when she smiles at Kara it’s the lightest she’s felt all day.

“Whatever you need.”

Kara smiles back, full and genuine for the first time since she stepped into Lena’s office, and Lena sees she was wrong. _This_ is the lightest she’s felt in a very long time.

“Feel free to use the couch, there’s a power point behind you if you need to charge your laptop.”

Kara nods and pulls her bag off the ground and Lena stands, making her way back to her desk. She opens her computer, the email from HR staring back at her but the irritation she had felt before is gone. She types out a quick reply and sends it off before opening the next email, this time from Marketing.

They work in silence, and it’s easy. Neither woman notices how the sky outside transitions from golden oranges to deep purples as the hours slip by, or how Jess opens the door only to stop at the sight of Kara on the couch before slipping silently out of the office.

They’re lost in their work, the world around them fading to nothing except the gentle tapping of keyboards and quiet companionship of someone not quite a stranger.


	4. Act I, Part IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yay! An update! 
> 
> We haven't abandoned this story, it was more a case of life getting in the way over the past year. The next chapter has already been started and we're about halfway through, so hopefully it won't take a year to post. 
> 
> Finally, a HUGE thanks to Rhino (from RhinoMouse) for looking over this chapter for us and being a sounding board. If you haven't checked out any of her writing do yourself a favor and go. Now. Just binge it all, you won't regret it.

“Can you pass me the potstickers?”

Lena looks up from the latest schematics sent up from R&D to Kara sitting on the edge of the couch. For someone who spent so long working as Cat Grant’s assistant, Kara knows how to take up space. The table is covered with files, takeout and chargers and only a third of it is Lena’s. Still, the company is not unwelcome. Lena has found herself on more than one occasion wishing that Kara’s visits would extend to lunchtime.

Lena passes Kara the takeout container, careful not to disrupt any of the paperwork covering her side of the coffee table. “I don’t understand how you can eat a family sized pizza and still have room for an entire container of potstickers.”

“You ate at least half of them!” Kara says around the food in her mouth and Lena can’t help but smile in amusement.

“And they were good. Very good. As was the pizza. But unless you have a hollow leg I don’t know about that doesn’t change the fact you annihilated meal for eight in, oh,” Lena checks her watch. “Twenty-seven minutes.”

Kara swallows and smiles at her sheepishly. “Would it be better if I told you that wasn’t a personal best?”

“I don’t know if I should be impressed or afraid.” Lena muses, watching Kara fish two potstickers out of the box with her chopsticks.

“Impressed. Always impressed.” Kara declares, deciding to just stab the potstickers like a kebab. Lena turns back to her schematics, ducking her head to hide the smile playing across her lips.

“Besides,” Kara continues. “Everyone has a go-to pizza place.”

Lena makes a noncommittal noise and shifts closer to the blueprint, trying to ignore the flush she feels creeping up her neck.

Kara stares at her, gobsmacked. “Lena!”

“In my defense, my mother was never particularly fond of pizza growing up,” Lena says with a shrug.

“But college!” Kara sputters, “How could you survive cram nights or, or _finals_ without pizza!?”

Lena cocks an eyebrow. “You realize I cook, right? And, really, vegetables do more to keep you awake than grease does.”

When no reply comes Lena looks up to find Kara staring at her with nothing short of horror. “Please... _please_ tell me you’re joking.”

Lena manages to keep her face blank long enough for Kara’s horror to morph into despair before she breaks. “You should have seen your face.”

Kara scowls, grabbing the pillow next to her and smacking Lena on the arm. Lena laughs loudly, grabbing the pillow before Kara can swing again. “I’m sorry, it was just too easy.”

“Rude.” But even as she says it Kara’s scowl turns into a smile, eyes wrinkling at the corners. Lena’s chest flutters, a warmth threatening to bubble out.

She chucks the pillow back at Kara. “My apologies. If I ever find a go-to spot, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Or you could share mine and cut out the middleman,” Kara says with a shrug.

And there’s that fluttering again, flinting around Lena’s chest as she blinks in surprise. “I..I suppose that works too.”

Kara nods, satisfied, places the now empty container on the coffee table and then stares at the word document open on her laptop. Lena goes back to examining her schematics, jotting down notes and specifications as she goes; it doesn’t take long for her to sink into the work, switching schematics for financials and responding to the occasional email when the whim strikes her. The steady tap-tap-tap of Kara’s keyboard beside her, accompanied by the increasingly more frequent swears, is the only indication someone else is in the room.

It’s when Kara swears for the fifth time in a three minute span (not that Lena was counting, no, of course not) and pushes her computer away that Lena gives up the pretense of not hearing her and laughs.

“This is stupid,” Kara grumbles.

“Mhmm.”

“And pointless.” Kara continues.

“I’m sure.” Lena nods.

“And frankly, it probably won’t even matter what I do because it will be wrong, because my boss is cranky and impossible and just a giant... stupid head,” Kara says, crossing her arms.

“And what, exactly, is the stupid head asking?” Lena asks.

Kara huffs and eyes her laptop with disdain. “Snapper wants me to dig deeper. That’s all he ever says. ‘Dig deeper, Danvers’, ‘push farther, Danvers’, ‘look closer, Danvers,” Kara scrunches her face as she imitates her boss and Lena bites her lip to keep from laughing again. “Where am I supposed to look closer? I have over a dozen quotes from you and Supergirl. Multiple interviews. The only way I’d get any closer to this story is if I sat on your lap.”

Lena chokes on the water she’s drinking. Kara presses on, oblivious. “I can’t do what he’s asking me to do in three days. It’s not possible.”

Lena puts down her water glass and wipes her mouth. “Maybe that’s the point.”

Kara pauses and looks up. “I didn't think he was a sadist.”

“I never said he was. Though, from our press conferences, it wouldn’t surprise me.” The smile Lena hopes for barely twitches on Kara’s lips. Lena sighs internally and presses on. “I know you said he’s being impossible but have you considered the possibility that he’s trying to teach you something? You have a way with words, yes, but you’re still a new reporter.”

Kara nods, still unconvinced. Lena sets down the schematics and faces Kara fully. “How much do you know about our internship program?”

Kara pauses, considering the question. “Honestly, not much. It’s competitive, not many people make it through. My sister looked into it a few years back but decided to do...other things.”

Lena nods. “Partially true. Genius and ingenuity, in my experience, are as likely to come from the mailroom as a university campus, so the initial screening requirements are actually set quite low. But after the background checks weed out any, shall we say, less than honest candidates, they are given a task to complete based on their expressed areas of interest with a deadline of twelve hours.”

“That doesn’t seem so bad,” Kara says, shoulders relaxing a bit.

“Until you consider the fact it takes the most experienced heads in each department at least twenty to complete,” Lena explains. “I’ve never finished one in less than eighteen.”

“But why would you do that?” Kara looks at Lena more than a little offended, as if she’s the one who’s been asked to rewrite the company’s entire firewall. “Why would you ask them to do something when you know they’re going to _fail_?”

“Because they’re not meant to succeed, Kara. It’s an impossible task.” Lena says.

“Then what’s the point!?” Kara exclaims in frustration.

“Because we learn more about our candidates in this one assignment before they ever step through our doors than we do in the entirety of their internship,” Lena says passionately. Kara opens her mouth but Lena presses on. “We learn about who they are as a person, not just what they can do in a lab. How they face adversity, how they think and act under pressure. Do they give up when it gets too hard, or become angry? How does a person stand against the impossible, because that’s when you see who they really are.”

Lena’s eyes go to the picture of Lex on her desk. “And what they’re truly capable of.”

She looks back at Kara, who watches her with a look Lena can’t even begin to describe. Won’t try and describe, because it’s unfair to put words and unrealistic expectations on the one person Lena might be willing to consider a friend.

(But even this title may be too much, because who could be friends with a Luthor and come out unscathed? Lena doesn’t know if she’s willing to put that burden on someone as pure of heart as Kara Danvers.)

“If this is your impossible task,” Lena asks slowly, thoughtfully. “If this is the only thing you ever did for Snapper, what would you want to gain from the experience?”

Kara doesn’t answer, brow crinkling in thought. She’s quiet long enough that Lena turns back to the schematic and gives it another look over.

"I guess," Kara says slowly. "I want to know how to make people listen."

Lena looks up and Kara continues. "I know, I know it's cheesy, but...so many problems happen because people don't listen to each other. People refusing to look past someone's differences because they don't like what the other person has to say, or, or they're afraid of things they just don't understand. And if I could change that, if I could write something that helps people look past their fear to find the truth, maybe it can start a conversation."

It’s not the answer Lena expects but looking at Kara now, brow crinkled but in a fierce determination where confusion once was, Lena finds she isn’t surprised. “Then talk to him. Learn from him. Show him you’re not afraid to reach out for help and it will go a long way in building trust for the future. Nobody expects you to do things alone.”

“We’re stronger together,” Kara says with the ghost of a smile.

The words slip past Kara’s lips so instinctively that it takes Lena a moment to remember she’s not Kara’s only high profile friend. She wonders how close exactly Kara is to the city’s caped heroine and her stomach twists uncomfortably. Lena takes another sip of water. She shouldn’t have had that last potsticker.

“I’ll admit I’m not normally one for the Super’s unfailing optimism but in this case, I’d have to agree,” Lena smiles and takes Kara’s hand. “It will work out in the end, Kara. One way or another.”

Kara squeezes her hand. “Thank you, Lena.”

They share another smile and for a moment Lena allows herself to forget the happenings beyond these four walls. Allows herself to forget the death threats and greedy investors asking questions about things they know nothing about, and focus on the remarkable woman with whom Lena was rapidly coming to care for.

(She doesn’t want Kara to bear the weight of befriending a Luthor but in moments like these Lena will allow herself to speculate; to imagine a life where someone other than Jess cared for Lena and not just ‘Luthor’.)

Lena rubs at her eyes, the figures in front of her beginning to blur and swim. She shakes her head in an attempt to keep awake and when that doesn’t work, she rests her elbows on her knees as an excuse to hold the cool glass of water to her forehead.

She can almost feel her mother’s tut of disapproval. _“Are you a hunchback? Sit up straight. Concentrate. You are a Luthor. You rest when the job is done.”_

Kara stops typing and looks at the clock on her desk, frowning. “I didn’t realize it was so late. It’s nearly midnight.”

Lena yawns, setting her jaw in an attempt to stave it off. She’s a Luthor, she works until the job is done. “Really? It feels earlier than that.”

Lena looks over at Kara, the smile on her lips faltering as she catches Kara regarding her seriously.

“What?” Lena asks, confused.

Kara doesn’t answer. Lena shifts in her seat and realizes Kara isn’t looking at her, but past her to the balcony doors. There’s nothing on the balcony, not unless... Lena turns expecting to see a familiar red cape and boots but only sees the reflection of her office looking back at her. “Kara?”

  
“Hmm?” Kara blinks, the serious expression changing into a more bright-eyed one. Now it’s Lena’s turn to regard her fri- Kara, regard _Kara_ in confusion.

Lena looks back at the balcony again, then back to Kara. “Is everything alright?”

“Yep!” Kara says, clapping her hands.

Lena looks at her, eyebrow arched. “Really? Because the way you were looking at the window I thought maybe Supergirl had come by-”

“Nope! No Supergirl, just me spacing-- lost in thought! Got a little distracted, that’s all.” Kara’s voice is so cheery, so bright, that Lena isn’t convinced Kara wasn’t just replaced by a pod person instead. Kara stands, picking up the take-out containers and disposing of them in the trash. “We should-- I should go.”

Lena wants to protest, it’s only eleven forty-five. She has emails to send and financials to read. Instead, she finds herself saying, “Let me drive you home.”

Kara stops, her eyes widening as she shifts from foot to foot.

“I’ll catch a bus,” she gestures to the files spread out in front of her “you look like you have work to finish up.”

Something tugs at the back of Lena’s mind but she dismisses it with a wave of her hand. “Kara, it’s nearly midnight. I wouldn’t want my worst enemy to catch a bus at this time of night, let alone m- you. Let me drive you home.”

Kara falters and shifts from foot to foot. “I-You don’t-I mean I can-”

“Please?”

Kara stops and stares at Lena. The urge to lift her chin higher is strong, to win this obvious battle of wills in the way she’s been breed to do since she was four years old but the look in Kara’s eye-- searching Lena’s face like she’s a puzzle to be solved but with a softness Lena doesn’t dare try and name, stops her short. They sit like that for a long moment, watching each other in the dimmed light of lamps and laptops. They sit there long enough that the only sound Lena hears is the blood pounding in her ears she nearly doesn’t hear Kara’s quiet “Okay”, sure she’s mistaken until Kara nods her head slowly and smiles.

Lena clears her throat and nods decisively back. “Alright then.”

Kara’s refused the offer for the past three days and walked Lena out to the curb, waiting with her before jogging up the street to the taxi rank. Whereas before they’d packed up with easy conversation and talking about plans for the coming day, now they pack up in a charged silence with an air of restlessness Lena’s never seen in Kara before.

Files packed away with nervous glances out the window.

Coats shrugged on with anxious and shuffling feet.

Lena hadn’t known it was possible to have a jittery leg standing up but as Lena powers down her computer for the night Kara manages to redefine Lena’s expectations once again. It’s not until they’re stepping out of Lena’s office, Jess still sitting at her own desk hunched over her computer, that Lena’s thoughts are brought back to the present.

“Good night Ms. Luthor, Ms. Danvers. I’ve taken the liberty of calling Joe. He’ll be waiting around the corner.” Jess spares them a look at the sound of Lena’s door closing but makes no motions to pack up.

“Joe?” Kara asks, confused.

“My driver,” Lena answers absentmindedly, watching Jess continue to type with a frown. “Jess, it’s midnight.”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor.” Jess agrees.

Lena narrows her eyes. That was polite.

“Would you like us to wait while you pack up your things? I’m sure Joe won’t mind dropping you off as well.” Lena asks pointedly, crossing her arms.

Jess pauses and smiles sweetly at her. “I’m just updating your calendar for the week. The head of WayneTech wants to meet with you-”

Lena raises an eyebrow. The head of WayneTech still hasn’t forgiven LuthorCorp and, by extension, L-Corp, for her brother’s more extravagant (deadly) business decisions and would sooner fling himself into an active volcano then agree to meet with her. Jess continues to smile up at her.

Lena sighs. “Go _home_ , Jess.”

Jess nods but turns back to her desktop and continues to type. Lena can feel the pressure in her head begin to build and resists the urge to hit her head against something hard. It’s late. There’s no point in arguing with Jess when she’s like this. Lena sighs and slips a couple of bills out of her wallet with a reminder that Jess eats something before walking towards the elevator with Kara trailing behind her.

Jess calls “Good night, Ms. Luthor,” and Lena can hear the smug satisfaction. Is there a support group for CEOs with difficult assistants?

The ride down is a quiet affair. Lena tries to ignore the doubt creeping at the edge of her thoughts. The voice that sounds suspiciously like her mother telling her that Kara doesn’t want a ride home, that Kara is only doing this for a story because why would _anyone_ want to spend time with a _Luthor_ , especially one who isn’t even a _real_ Luthor--

“So tomorrow I was thinking we could try a new gyro place that just opened. It’s right around the corner--”

Kara’s voice jerks Lena out of her thoughts. She forces them to the back of her mind as she listens to Kara ramble on comparing the lamb to the beef. This is ridiculous. _She_ is being ridiculous. Kara’s been here every day this week, of _course_  she wants to spend time with her. They rarely talk about her story and even when they do, it’s always in the periphery. Kara never asks for a follow-up quote or tries to trap her in her words, never asks anything of her.

Still, the doubt lingers in the corner of her mind reminding her at every turn not to trust, not to hope.

“Lena?”

Lena’s eyes snap back to Kara’s and she pastes a smile on her face. “Yes! That sounds lovely.”

Kara gives her an odd look but says nothing. They ride the rest of the way down from the fiftieth floor in silence, stepping out into a still lobby when the elevator slows to a stop.

The security guard at the front desk tips his hat to them as they go past. “Goodnight Ms. Luthor.”

Lena nods at the security guard on duty as she digs her phone out of her purse and shoots off a text to Joe letting him know their position. Kara smiles at the security guard, asks for his name and then wishes him a good night before jogging to catch up with Lena where she waits at the curb.

Lena tucks her phone in her pocket as Kara comes up beside Lena. “Joe should be pulling around any moment.”

“Good, that’s good.” Kara kicks at the ground, almost bouncing in place and the temptation to put her hands on Kara’s shoulders and have her still is overwhelming.

Kara’s phone goes off in her pocket. She shoots Lena an apologetic smile and steps away to answer as a black town car pulls up beside Lena. Joe steps out to open Lena’s door for her but Lena doesn’t notice him. Her attention is firmly locked on Kara, pacing on the sidewalk talking rapidly into her phone even as her eyes dart over to Lena before hanging up the phone and coming back over.

“Everything alright?” Lena asks.

“I have to go,” Kara says quickly.

Lena’s smile freezes on her lips as a familiar sensation spreads in her gut. Lena pushes the feeling aside and asks again, “Is everything alright?”

“Oh yeah!” Kara nods earnestly. “Yep! My sister lost her key to her apartment, and I have the spare, and she called to see where I was and when she heard I was here she was just around the corner so she said she’d come get me--”

“Alright,” Lena says slowly. Kara’s avoiding her gaze and Lena unsuccessfully tries to squash the growing pit in her stomach. “Would you like me to stay with you until she gets here?”

“No!” Kara says quickly, followed by a wince. “I mean, it’s late and you’ve been working all day, and you have that meeting with the investors tomorrow. You should go home. I’ll be fine.”

Lena’s not convinced. “Are you sure?”

“Yup! She’ll be here soon, I promise.” Kara nods again with a smile, but it’s too wide to be genuine and Lena doesn’t miss the way Kara’s hands fidget anxiously at her sides.

Lena knows a brush-off when she sees one. Even one as polite as Kara’s. Lena swallows the sudden lump in her throat and gives Kara her own small smile. “Alright then. If you’re sure.”

Kara steps forward to get Lena’s door as she steps into the car, giving Joe a smile as he moves past her to the front seat. Kara shuts it carefully behind her. Joe puts the car in drive and before Lena knows what she’s doing she’s telling him to wait and rolling down the window. Kara crouches down, confused. Lena fidgets with the buckle of her seatbelt, twisting it in her hands in a sudden bout of nerves. “Text me when you get home?”

Lena doesn’t look at Kara as she says it, eyes fixed on a spot behind Kara’s ear and unwilling to see the reaction to such a needy and sentimental request.

(Lillian would be so disappointed.)

She looks back as Kara nods, agreeing with a sweet smile before stepping backward. Joe pulls away from the curb and pulls smoothly onto the street. They stop at a light on the corner, idling quietly in the night. Lena gives herself until the light turns green but when she turns back in her seat to look, Kara is nowhere to be found.

\-----

Half an hour later Lena sits in bed, a stack of files filling the space beside her as the news plays softly in the background. Jess had called shortly after Lena said goodbye to Kara at the curb reminding Lena of a last minute meeting early the next morning, dashing any hopes Lena had of getting more than a few hours sleep.

Lena loves her job but right now, eyes as numbers and words begin to swim off the page, thinking of long days and sleepless nights and the steady stream of death threats increasing into a tidal wave in the last week alone, Lena is _exhausted_. There’s always one more meeting. One more conference call. One more project to sign off on. One more, one more, one more.

“-and in breaking news, Supergirl stopped a bank robbery today, the maiden of might swooped in as suspects left the bank-”

Lena looks up, her concentration breaking as the news coverage shows Supergirl land in front of the would-be bank robbers, pavement cracking around her as they raise their guns and shoot. The bullets bounce off harmlessly but for the briefest moment, Lena’s breath catches as her chest constricts. Supergirl gives the robbers an unimpressed look as Lena reaches for the remote and hits the power.

Lena stares at her reflection in the dark screen and scoffs. Tired? She answers emails, sits in meetings all day. Who is she to complain about being tired when Supergirl saves lives every day, multiple times a day. All Lena does is answer emails and sit in meetings, trying to atone for the sins of a man who tried to play god.

(The look on Lex’s face comes rushing into her mind, months before he was arrested, the last time she’d seen him before the trial before he was shackled and subdued in the stand--)

Lena shakes the image from her mind and turns back to the reports. She could do this.

She _would_ do this.

She falls asleep on top of her files, her last coherent thought being a flash of blonde and a brilliant smile.

  
  
Lena stumbles out of the elevator after a sleepless night spent tossing and turning, thinking of prototypes and modifications and a red/blue blur punching an alien twice her size. The sound of fingers clacking on a keyboard makes Lena pause. It’s barely six o’clock in the morning. Nobody should be here this early except the security guards changing shifts.

She continues down the hallway and sees Jess, bleary-eyed hunched over her computer, staring at the monitors.  
  
“Jess?” Lena asks slowly.

Jess doesn’t look up, barely registering Lena is there. Lena tries again. “Jess, it’s six in the morning.”

“Mmh.” Jess grunts.

“Why are you here at six in the morning?” Lena asks slowly.

“Running diagnostics.”

It’s the way Jess says it, emotionless and void of any kind of snark. Lena takes in her assistants appearance again. Takes in the hunched back, the wrinkled outfit Lena would swear was the same from the day before. Takes in the mountain of empty coffee cups from the all-night diner around the corner.

Lena sighs. “You’ve been here all night.”

Jess keeps typing, not looking away from the numbers on the screen up. The pressure headache Lena had been fighting since she woke up throbbed sympathetically. This would not do. “Go home.”

“It’s not done,” Jess says.

“I don’t care,” Lena says plainly.

“It failed the last time I left it running by itself. I need to-”

“Jess!” Jess’ hands drop to the desk. She turns to Lena and looks up at her annoyed. Lena doesn’t budge. “I understand you take your work seriously. I appreciate that you know I do. But I can’t have you working on these systems on an empty stomach with no sleep. Go _home_.”

“When it’s _done_.” Jess snaps.

“Jess.”

“Fight me, Lena.”

Lena raises an eyebrow and stares at Jess, watching as her shoulders slump in exhaustion. They both know that she’s lost the argument but Lena wants to drive the point home. “Don’t make me revoke your admin rights.”

Jess’ hands pause over the keyboard. She looks up at Lena slowly, eyes narrowing. “You wouldn’t.”

"I would,” Lena crosses her arms, “And then I'd transfer you to the intern pool. For a month."

Jess’ narrowed eyes turn into a full-fledged glare. Lena straightens her spine, crosses her arm and slips into boss mode. They stay like that for a few minutes, locked in a battle of wills. Lena has just begun to dread the paperwork she’ll need to do to make good on her threat when Jess rolls her eyes. “ _Fine_.”

Jess scowls and begins to pack up her desk, shoving paper back into folders and throwing her phone into her bag. She pauses and looks up at Lena, stapler in hand, “I'm going but you can't make me stay home all day. You wouldn't know what to do without me."

“I'm sure I'll cope,” Lena says, handing Jess her phone.

Jess snorts, taking her phone and shutting off her monitor. “You won't last the morning.”

Lena hums as she directs Jess towards the elevator, rolling her eyes at the way Jess tries to drag her feet even as she sways in delirium. Lena pushes the elevator button and squeezes Jess’s arm in affection as the doors open immediately. “Sleep well, Jess.”

Five hours later, Lena feels absolutely vindicated. She’s never been more productive in her time as CEO. Reports, fiduciary information, all read and cataloged, her nine am and eleven am meetings attended and new ones booked, the prototype from R&D has been tweaked and sent back for testing, everything she’s needed to sign has been signed in triplicate and sent off.

She’s productive.

She’s focused.

She’s completely and utterly _bored_.

Lena bites back a groan as she reads yet another email from an overconfident investor, explaining the benefits of Lena’s own technology back to her. It’s almost enough to wish she had another email from HR, which were a semi-regular occurrence even without Jess.

(Almost. She’s desperate, not stupid. She does not, will not, and could not ever want another email from HR. Even if Jess is involved. _Especially_ if Jess is involved.)

Her phone buzzes against the glass and Lena picks it up-

_Jess: You revoked my admin privileges._

Thank god. Someone sane.

_Jess: Why would you revoke my admin privileges_

Lena taps out a response, a burst of affection swelling in her chest. _Because two hours is a nap and you don’t need admin privileges when you’re sleeping. Go to sleep._

_Jess: I’ve been gone for five._

Lena smiles as she shakes her head. As if that made a difference. _And worked remotely for three. You’re not sneaky. I’m not letting you back in the building until you get at least six of sleep and eat something._

She gets an angry face and a knife emoji in response and laughs genuinely for the first time all day. Good. If Jess has devolved into emojis, she’s barely conscious already. But now Lena’s stuck right where she was.

Completely, utterly, and absolutely bored.

Lena closes the conversation with Jess and on instinct opens Kara’s instead. She scrolls through the thread, smiling absentmindedly as she rereads bits of their conversation from the day before. She’s contemplating downloading one of the games Kara recommended at lunch after her phone had been deemed ‘unfunable’ (‘ _How can you run the biggest tech company in the world and the most exciting app you_ have _be a calculator?’ ‘It’s a very good calculator’. ‘It doesn’t even spell B-O-O-B-S right, Lena, how good can it be?’_ ) when her phone buzzes with a new message.

_Kara: Very serious news day at this very serious publication._

Lena opens the attached picture. Dozens of opened pizza boxes cover every available inch of the Catco bullpen, Kara’s eye barely visible in the bottom corner as she takes the photo over her shoulder.

“Oh, my…” Lena says, typing out a reply. _Did you miss breakfast?_

_Kara: Ha. Ha. Some network is having a contest and asked Catco to cover it. Today is the photoshoot and I’m pretty sure this is what heaven smells like._

Lena shakes her head. Of course, Kara’s version of heaven is food related. _So you don’t actually get to eat them? That’s a shame._

_Kara: Whatever happened to ‘vegetables are better, Kara’?_

_I’m sure I could find a kale pizza somewhere._ Lena fingers hovering over a teasing smile emoji before she thinks better of it and hits send. She waits for a reply with an almost giddy anticipation. She’s not disappointed.

_Kara: Why do you insist on hurting me?_

“I love what you’ve done to the place. Very hospital chic.” A voice drawls from across her desk.

Lena startles, catching her phone before it drops to the desk in surprise. Maxwell Lord stands in the center of her office, head up as he turns in a small circle taking everything in.

“Maxwell,” Lena plasters a smile on her face, years of surprise ‘visits’ from her mother the only thing stopping her from rolling her eyes. “You’re not on my list of scheduled appointments.”

“Really? It must have slipped your assistant’s mind. I could recommend another if you’d like. Someone professional, someone who knows their place. Someone more competent at anticipating your...needs.” His eyes glance over Lena’s figure and it’s everything she can do to keep a neutral expression even as her stomach twists, enraged.

Nobody talked about Jess like that.

“I can appreciate your concern, Maxwell, but I assure you Jess is more than capable of doing her job,” Lena says with forced politeness, lifting her head in a silent challenge.

“Ah, yes. You know, I’ve heard the most _interesting_ rumors about her capabilities.” He moves over to Lena’s couch and sits down, making himself comfortable.

“Oh?” Lena can feel her eye twitch at his arrogance of trying to control her space.

(Not because he’s tainting a space that she and Kara shared, had made their own, had forged a refuge in after a long day’s work over the last week. No. Definitely not because of that.)

Maxwell nods. “Apparently, her skills go a bit...deeper than just scheduling appointments.”

Lena’s phone buzzes somewhere on her desk but she ignores it, her eyes never leaving his.

“She’s an assistant. She assists me.” Lena pushes her chair away from her desk and stands, tired of the charade. “Let’s cut to the chase, Max. Why are you here?”

“Luthors. You never change, always straight to business with no room for pleasantries. Alright,” Maxwell stands and comes closer to Lena, the facade of pleasantness gone. “I’m sure you’ve been very busy doing...whatever it is your little company does here.”

Lena bites her tongue. Maxwell continues, oblivious. “Which is why I wanted to come here and give you a chance to explain in person what business you have probing into my company’s research division. I know your brother left you a mess but honestly, corporate espionage? I thought that beneath you.”

“Then allow me to put your mind at ease,” Lena says plainly. “It hasn’t happened.”

“See, I thought you would say that. Which is why I took the liberty and brought this.” Maxwell pulls out his phone and opens an app.

“I didn’t know you’d gotten into the app business. In fact, weren’t you the one who called it the ‘child’s game for simplistic idiots and their inbred cousins’?” Lena says.

“All still true, but given...recent events, my team needed a way to monitor our network remotely and securely. A way to make sure nobody was poking along where they don’t belong.” Maxwell says as he taps to a specific page before extending the phone to Lena.

Lena takes the phone and swipes through the network logs, taking in the information before asking lightly, “How far back does this data go?”

Maxwell narrows his eyes. “Sunday night.”

“The night of the fight club.” Lena looks away from the data and cocks an eyebrow at Maxwell. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t some of your people caught in that roundup?”

“I’m not one to put stock in rumors,” Maxwell says stiffly, “but if there were, they would have been dealt with accordingly.”

“I’m sure,” Lena says with a tight smile. “Just as I’m sure you’ve taken into account any proxy accounts that could scramble their signal and masquerade as coming from this location. ”

Lena turns off the phone screen and hands it back, pushing it into his chest. “L-Corp prides itself on the ingenuity and creativity we put into our products. Knocking off second-rate products would do nothing but delay our goal and lower our credibility. Remember that the next time you want to come into _my_ office slinging accusations without any proof.”

Maxwell’s nostrils flare. He steps into Lena’s space and she forces herself not to back down, lifting her chin defiantly instead as he looks down his nose at her. “Hear me well, _Luthor_ \--”

“Is there a problem here?”

Lena and Maxwell’s heads whip around. Kara, balancing two pizza boxes on her hip, stands at the door staring at Maxwell with a loathing Lena never knew she was capable of. She comes fully into the room, not bothering to deposit the food on the table before coming to stand by Lena, forcing Maxwell to take a step back as she puts herself between them.

“Ms. Danvers. What a pleasant surprise.” The disdain in Maxwell’s voice is new to Lena, as is the answering tension in Kara’s back as she lifts her head almost defiantly to stare him down.

“Would you like me to call security, Ms. Luthor?” Kara asks stiffly, her eyes never leaving his. Lena’s doesn’t have time to process the surprise of hearing Kara refer to her as ‘Ms. Luthor’ before Maxwell is lifting his hands in a mocking surrender.

“That won’t be necessary. I was just leaving.”

Lena knows she’s not imagining the sneer on his face as he lowers his hands. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife as Maxwell takes his time placing his phone back in his pocket and buttoning his blazer. “Lena, always a pleasure.”

Kara goes rigid when Maxwell’s hand brushes Lena’s hip as he moves past the two women on his way to the door and, for a moment, Lena would swear she hears a faint, almost buzzing sound.

But then his hand is gone, the moment is passed, and Maxwell is looking back at Lena from her office door. “Try not to work yourself too hard. You know what they say: ‘All work and no play made Lex a very dull boy’.”

The door clicks shut behind him and the resounding silence is deafening. Lena watches Kara, who doesn’t move from her spot in front of Lena save for lowering her head and staring, no, _glaring_ at the door as if waiting for Maxwell to return.

She stays like that for a minute before releasing a breath and turning to Lena, looking over her in concern. “Are you okay?”

“I feel I should be asking you that,” Lena says still reeling. “I didn’t know you knew Maxwell Lord.”

The scowl returns to Kara’s face at the mention of his name before she catches herself and smooths it away. “It’s...complicated.”

“Most things with him are,” Lena says with a quirked smile, trying to ease the tension in the room but failing. Questions burn at the tip of her tongue. Jokes about what a small world they live in but Kara is shifting her weight and refusing to meet Lena’s eyes looking more uncomfortable than Lena’s ever seen her, and Lena’s chest pains in sympathy. She clears her throat and nods at the boxes. “So, pizza, huh?”

Kara’s eyes meet Lena’s in gratitude, the tension finally easing from her shoulder. She moves over toward the couch and sets the pizza boxes on the table. “You try standing in a room with forty pizzas and see if you don’t cave.”

“Are there still forty or did you smuggle these out?” Lena teases.

“I’ll have you know I bought these with my own money, thank you very much.” Kara sticks her tongue out at Lena. “And, I even brought you a present.”

Kara throws Lena a small paper bag from her purse. Lena barely avoids getting hit in the face as she catches it making Kara laugh. She gives Kara a suspicious look before opening it slowly.

“Wouldn’t want you missing out on your favorite topping,” Kara says, sitting back with a shit-eating grin.

Lena brings the rough, green leaf out of the bag. “I’m amazed you willingly bought a vegetable, let alone knew what kale looked like.”

“I looked for the most depressing plant.” Kara deadpans.

Lena laughs pops the kale in her mouth, humming contently as Kara wrinkles her nose and mutters ‘gross’. She puts the bag of kale on the table and goes to the water stand as Kara begins to divide the pizza. She turns to find Kara sitting in her usual spot, the same spot Maxwell occupied not long ago.

Lena’s grip tightens on the glasses. “How do you feel about the balcony today?”

\-----

They eat, for the most part, in comfortable silence. Aside from Kara’s raised eyebrow at Lena’s insistence on a knife and fork.

_“It’s pizza.”_

“This is a six thousand dollar shirt,” Lena says.

“That’s more than I earn in a month and a half.” Kara deadpans.

Lena’s cheeks flush. “It’s a very nice shirt.”

Kara rolls her eyes but doesn’t comment, choosing instead to stack the last two slices on top of each other and biting into them with a vicious grin and satisfied hum. Lena watches a trail of grease escapes the corner of her mouth and hands over a napkin. Kara thanks her and they fall back into silence as they finish their food. Lena, for once, finishes first and finds herself turning the knife over in her hands as she reflects on the data Maxwell had shown her earlier.

Lena didn’t lie. Not exactly. A proxy server, in theory, could have bounced the signal back to appear as if it originated from their servers. But there was an air of familiarity to the work Lena couldn’t deny. It wasn’t Jess. That Lena was sure of that, it had lacked the flair Jess used when she didn’t care about getting caught. But still, there was...something. Hovering, nagging at the back of Lena’s mind demanding she pay attention--

“Earth to Lena. Come in, Lena.”

Lena blinks, jerking her head back from the hand waving in front of her eyes.

“Sorry, what?”  
  
Kara tilts her head in concern. “Where’d you go?”

“Nowhere, just remembering something...” Lena trails off, not knowing how to finish that sentence. She was being ridiculous. Working herself up over an old code because her biggest competitor was seeing ghosts where there were shadows? No. She won’t bother Kara.

Lena looks back at Kara and smiles. “What were you saying?”

Kara stares at her oddly for another minute but lets it go. “I was asking if you had plans any tonight.”

“Nothing as far as I know, but I’d need to check with Jess,” Lena says as she does a mental check of her day. She frowns, “Why, is everything alright? Did Snapper not approve of your edits--”

“Wait, Snapper? What- no, Lena!” Kara laughs, reaching out and resting a hand on Lena’s arm. “I wanted to know if you were free to come to a game night at my place.”

Lena stares at Kara. “A...game night?”

“Yeah! Every few weeks I have a few people come over to my place and we hang out. Play some board games, eat some food which I provide, of course, because they all have terrible taste. Last time Alex got pizza from Jimmy’s which, you know, is just-” Kara’s nose scrunches in distaste as she shudders. Lena would find it amusing if she wasn’t still terribly confused.

“Kara--”

“James wasn’t impressed, either, but that’s more because of a whole...” Kara waves her hands, “...other thing. But, yeah! If you were free I was hoping you’d come tonight? It’s super relaxed and everything you say will be completely off-record, of course.”

Kara smiles at her, bright-eyed and full of hope and Lena doesn’t know what to say. She’s not in the habit of setting herself up for disappointment. She’s never allowed herself to consider the possibility of seeing Kara outside of work without the buffer of her office or pretense of Kara’s article. Hope sparks in her chest at the prospect of a friend. Lena doesn’t remember the last time she had someone she was close to, someone she trusted absolutely.

(Lena, watching Lex being led out of the courtroom in shackles and chains as reporters fight to capture the ravings of a madman. Lena, her grip on Jack’s hand tightening even as he squirmed away under the pressure of cameras and public condemnation.)

“Kara, I--”

A loud crash cuts her off. Kara is on her feet in an instant, stepping in front of Lena before Lena’s realizes she’s even moved.

“Luthor!”

A wave of relief floods through Lena’s chest as Jess storms into her office with a scowl and the blazer/sweatpants combination Lena still isn’t sure how she pulls off.

“Luthor, I swear to god if you don’t give me back my admin privileges-- oh.” Jess pauses when she sees Kara. “You’re here again.”

“Jess, what was that crash?” Lena asks, staring at what appears to be a decapitated, ceramic rubber duck head clutched in her assistant’s hand.

“Some idiot thought it’d be funny to cover my desk in _these_ and I thought they looked better on the ground.” Jess’ eyes narrow at Kara. “What?”

Lena looks over. Kara stares at Jess, eyes wide and mouth gaping at the messy bun and Reptar shirt under Jess’ blazer. Jess cocks an eyebrow at Kara. Kara closes her mouth with a click and looks away. Lena bites back a groan at Jess’ smug smile.

Lena turns to Kara. “Kara, I’m so sorry to cut this short but I have a few things I need to go over with Jess before my next meeting.”

Kara blinks in surprise before nodding quickly. “Oh, of course! I should probably get back to the office anyway.”

Lena sees the look Jess give her a look as she watches Kara pack up but says nothing. Kara goes to grab the empty pizza boxes from the balcony but Lena waves her off and walks Kara to her office door. “Thank you again for coming. I’m sorry we were interrupted earlier.”

“Really, Lena, it’s fine. Trust me, I understand interruptions that can’t be helped.” Kara says and before Lena knows what’s happening she pulls Lena in for a quick hug. “I’ll text you my address for tonight. We’ll start around seven or so so let me know when you’re on your way?”

“Okay,” Lena says dumbly. She hears Jess snicker somewhere behind them as her arms dangle uselessly at her sides. She wishes she could say, anything, more intelligent than ‘okay’.

Kara gives a final squeeze before stepping back and smiling back at Jess. “Bye, Jess! I love your shirt!”

The snickering stops abruptly. Lena doesn’t have to look to know the scowl Kara’s receiving but Kara’s doesn’t see, already pulling her phone out as she walks to the elevator.

“Smooth, Lena.”

“Not one word,” Lena mutters, watching Kara go. Lena shuts the door with a click and rests her forehead on it.

Lena hears Jess snicker behind her before her voice turns serious. “You don’t have another meeting scheduled for today.”

“Neither did Maxwell Lord, but that didn’t stop him from storming in here and accusing you of corporate espionage.” Lena shoots back, rounding on Jess with a stern look.

Jess huffs and rolls her eyes. She doesn’t look the least bit surprised at the accusation, or guilty, but more annoyed at the mention of Maxwell. Lena takes that as confirmation and crosses her arms. “Now I’m going to ask this one last time. What the hell is going on?”

\-----

Jess leads her down a flickering hallway and Lena follows, skeptically.

The tenth floor hasn't been used since Luthorcorp was in its dying days. One of many designated floors for manufacturing chemicals and technology specifically designed to go to war with Superman. They were decommissioned after Lex was arrested and his properties raided, the chemicals and tech had been seized by various government agencies. When the CDC cleared the floor of any lingering contamination Lena had hopes for repurposing. To turn Lex’s assembly line of destruction into something productive, something good. Hell, she’d even signed off on renovations to begin in January.

But then the Venture crashed, and her life threatened as her building crumbled around her, and the tenth floor was reduced to a shell with the studs covered in plastic until further work could continue.

Lena stares at a crack on the floor, “Why are we here?”

“I needed somewhere,” Jess says.

She takes a left into a large room at the center of the floor and Lena follows. “Somewhere to what?”  
  
Inside is empty save a single table in the middle of the room, a thick plastic tarp covering a bulking shape. Jess pulls the sheet back dramatically, revealing what looks to be a jerry-rigged computer setup. Lena stares at the contraption, not entirely sure how to react. “If this is your way of telling me I’m not paying you enough for a decent computer, you get points for theatricality.”

“You pay me more than what you pay Dan.”

Lena doesn’t know how to reply to that. Instead, she shakes her head and asks, “What are we doing here, Jess?”  
  
“You wanted answers,” Jess says again as if that explained anything.

“You brought me to a murder room for answers?”

“Lena. Shut up and look.”

Lena raises an eyebrow at Jess’ tone but says nothing. She moves closer to the desk and rests her hand on the back of the chair as she looks at the screen and studies the numbers. She’s quiet for a long moment, trying to ignore the feeling in her gut at the similarity to Maxwell’s logs. She’s not successful. “What am I looking at, Jess?”

Jess is quiet for a moment. Then, “Do you remember, the night of the Fight Club, I gave you some reports to look over in case it didn’t go away?”

“I do,” Lena says, looking away from the screen to face the other woman fully. “I also remember asking if we had anything to worry about.”

Jess looks away. She crosses her arms to hide her clenched fists but Lena sees them anyway. Closing her eyes, Lena exhales heavily, “How bad?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?” Lena asks sharply.

“I don’t know.” Jess grits out. She looks at her set up as she says it, arms crossed tightly over her chest and her jaw tense. “After that night I kept an eye on our activity like I said I would. We were updating our systems anyway and Dan doesn’t know his ass from his elbow so I wanted to make sure he didn’t fuck it up and have us spend two weeks pushing fixes, _again_. And it was fine, everything was _fine,_ but then…”

“You noticed something weird,” Lena says, parroting Jess’ words from the day before.

“Things weren’t matching up. Minor irregularities I figured slipped through the last update.” Jess says and Lena nods, the words sounding familiar. Jess continues. “So I did some digging. Figured it’d be faster to do it myself and we could move on. But then I checked the logs in the R&D file server and the fluctuations were still there.”

“The patch didn’t work?” Lena asks.

"The traffic for the file server was still way too high,” Jess explains. “Not to mention other minor issues that kept popping up that shouldn’t have. So we rolled back. Coordinated with the Server team, Development and Change, floated four different fixes. one patch is expected, two understandable but five--"

“Is weird,” Lena finishes. Jess slumps her shoulders. She nods, frustrations clear on her face as she blinks back tears. Her hands curl into fists on the desk and Lena covers one with her own, rubbing her thumb over Jess’ wrist. “Jess, it’s alright.”

“No, it’s not,” Jess says shaking her head. “I fucked up. I fucked up, this shouldn’t be happening, I should know how to _fix_ this--”

“Jess,” Lena says calmly, waiting until Jess looks at her before continuing. “I won’t lie, this isn’t great. And I wish you had told me sooner instead of trying to solve it alone because we work best when we work together. But this isn’t your fault.”

“But if I hadn’t gone looking into those reports--”

“Then it still could have happened. Frankly, I’d have been more surprised if nothing did, given the police’s statement after Veronica’s club was shut down.” Lena shrugs. “But until we know exactly what it is we’re up against, we can’t assume there’s any connection and I won’t have you blaming yourself for something out of your control. Do you understand me?”

Jess sniffs and nods. She looks at Lena and gives a small smile. “God, you’re a terrible boss. All supportive and shit. You could at least pretend to be mad.”

“I know, I’m a terrible Luthor,” Lena says, sighing dramatically.

“The worst,” Jess says with a laugh.

Jess rubs her nose, discreetly wiping her eyes as she does so. Lena looks back at the screen and pretends not to notice. “Now, come on. Let’s see what we have.”

\-----

One of the benefits of Lena’s office is she can keep track of time without checking the clock. Down in Jess’ Murder Room ( _‘It’s not a murder room, Lena’ ‘Would you rather_ me _call it your hobbit hole?’ ‘I take it back. I’m going to kill you.’_ ), where the lack of natural lighting is less concerning than the possibility of falling through a hole in the floor, Lena doesn’t realize how much time has actually passed until Jess sets Lena’s buzzing phone beside her with a  _klunk._

“Make it stop,” Jess grumbles. She goes back to her spot on the floor using Lena’s bag as a headrest and picks up her computer, laying it on her chest by her chin.

“There is a chair right there,” Lena tries for the third time.

“Do I judge your methods?” Jess says.

Lena shakes her head and unlocks her phone.

_K. Danvers: Hey, Lena! We’re about to order food, not pizza don’t worry, and pick a game. So far it’s between Uno and Mario Kart but last time we played that my sister threw her controller at James’ head and it went out the window :(_

A long string of emoji’s follow that would ordinarily make Lena laugh (Kara’s ability to tell a story, apparently, is not limited to words) but a sinking feeling fills her gut as the word ‘sister’ glares up at her.

Kara's sister.

Kara's sister Alex.

Kara's sister Alex who works _law enforcement_.

In her excitement of making a friend, an actual, honest friend, Lena forgot about Kara's other friends. Kara's other friends who see her, spend time with her, who have game nights with her. Kara’s friends would be at this game night. Kara’s friends would be at this game night with Kara's sister, Kara's _law enforcement sister._

She’s a Luthor. The sister of a madman, tainted by association and as warm and welcoming as Kara is how could her friends think of Lena as anything other than what she is? She stares at the screen, the phone feeling heavy in her hand.

She’s can’t go.

She’ll let down Kara if she doesn’t go.

She can’t go--

But Kara asked her--

Friends and a sister at a game night Lena is now late for---

“Lena?” Jess stares at her, concerned. Lena stares back, stuck between a rock and a hard place as Lena’s phone buzzes again.

_K. Danvers: Are you on your way?_

\-----

“That’s cheating!”

Winn’s shout breaks Kara’s staring contest with her phone. She looks up from her spot leaning at the kitchen island to see Alex holding Uno deck with one hand above her head and using the other to hold Winn back. “Tough luck, Schott. My house, my rules.”

“But it’s Kara’s house!” Winn whines, stomping his foot.

“I had it first.” Alex taunts. Winn makes another jump for it and Alex dodges him quickly, stepping closer to the window.

Kara rolls her eyes. She pushes off from the counter and, with a burst of superspeed, plucks the cards out of her sister’s hand before going back to her spot and depositing them beside her. Alex gives a disgruntled grunt and turns to Kara.

“Hey!” Alex says, pointing a finger at Kara. “No powers on game night! That’s cheating!”

“No, it’s saving the Uno deck from the thirty-foot journey the Wii controller took.”

Alex scoffs. “It went six inches--”

“--And then you caught it.” Winn chimes in. He rests his hands on his hips to match Alex. “Much shorter than thirty feet.

Alex nods and looks at Kara expectantly. Kara finds James’ eye behind and raises an eyebrow. James hides his laugh behind his glass and holds a hand up in surrender. Kara rolls her eyes.

Lena would back her up.

“We’re not playing Uno or Mario Kart,” Kara says firmly, “This article has killed me this week and I don’t need to stop you two from killing each other all over my nice, _clean_ living room.”

Winn’s shoulders slump and he goes back to his spot on the couch. Alex holds Kara’s look for another minute before rolling her eyes and grabbing her beer in defeat. “Fine. But we’re not playing Settlers of Catan again.”

“Aw, come on, Alex,” James says, setting his drink down. He smiles at her. “You might win this time.”

“Okay, listen Olsen--” Alex starts, rounding on James.

Kara tunes out their bickering and turns back to her phone on the counter. She knows she would have heard her phone if Lena replied, but it doesn’t stop her frown when at the blank notifications when she unlocks the screen. She turns it over in her hands.

Maybe Lena hadn’t gotten her message. She did have a meeting after their lunch, but there’s no way it could have lasted this long, right? Maybe if she called the office Jess could--

Kara’s phone buzzes in her hand. She turns the phone over quickly, screen nearly cracking as she scrambles to unlock her phone.

_L. Luthor: I’m sorry, I can’t._

A heavy feeling settles uncomfortably in Kara’s chest as she stares at the message. She rereads it, trying to understand what Lena means by she ‘can’t’.

“Kara, come on! Winn brought his new expansion for Cards Against Humanity.” Alex calls from the living room.

“It’s a Superhero edition!” Winn says gleefully.

“Coming,” Kara says absentmindedly. She shakes her head. She’s being ridiculous. Lena’s busy, that’s all.

Kara taps out a reply before hitting send. She grabs her drink and joins the others. Her phone lays on its spot on the counter as Alex teases Kara with a Supergirl card, three dots appearing and disappearing, appearing and disappearing, appearing and disappearing beside Lena’s name as the screen fades to black.

 

**Author's Note:**

> What started off as an innocent headcanon between friends quickly spiraled into what became a monster fic from hell. Apparently, our brains take 'BUT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED' as a challenge. So, a few things to know about this fic.
> 
> 1) It's going to be long. Really long. There are at least 8 parts THAT WE KNOW OF. So yeah, it's gonna be long. You have been warned.
> 
> 2) The tags say slow burn. We really do mean slow burn. This explores their relationship going from acquaintances to friends to lovers (again...see the tags) and we take our time exploring each part of that development as we think of scenes to flesh out the ones we already have.
> 
> 3) 'Angst-' We've each taken turns going 'listen yOU ASSHOLE' and laughed as the other cried. 
> 
> 4) '-WITH A HAPPY ENDING' It's important to know that as much hell as we are going to put these two in, it's going to be alright. Because characters suffering uselessly is not entertainment, and that's what we want the story to do. Entertain. 
> 
> 5) Updates will come as we can get them. Our plan right now is to backlog chapters as we go, so that eventually we can have a consistent update schedule. We will keep yall updated as this develops. 
> 
> One one last note, we both have tumblrs. Come chat, yell or cry with us!
> 
>  
> 
> [ ATongueTiedWriter ](http://atonguetiedwriter.tumblr.com)  
> [ JPuzzle ](http://jixorpuzzle.tumblr.com/)


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